Transformers HMW: Iconic Ruin
by Centurimon
Summary: On the eve of Iacon's darkest hour, a new menace emerges to confront the Autobots, and the truth about their past. As both sides gear up for the final confrontation of the Great War, two old friends prepare to meet one last time to settle old scores...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own HMW, Transformers, or any characters used in this fanfiction that have been provided by other people. That said, all characters, concepts, and etc. used in this fanfiction are mine, so 'd appreciate it if you can respect the year it took me to get this project rolling and not take things from it without asking first. **

**Also, to those naysayers who said my HMW fanfiction would never come I say this: BOOYAH!**

**The Array Command Center, 2nd Vorn, Iacon – Main Power Control Matrix**

If all life has one common thread, it is a desire to leave an impact on the world it leaves behind when it dies. All life attempts to perform some duty, some purpose to leave a positive impact on its home. At the end of our lives, we look back upon the lives we have led and judge our lives based upon the sole criteria of how much of an impact we've had in people's life. Mainu One was one of thousands of Autobots who had been forced to make this final judgment, but It would never know if the diminutive Autobot would consider his valiant but ultimately doomed attempt to save his people from certain doom a worthy enough legacy for his life.

It listened to the whirring of energy as The Array charged up and prepared to launch its volley of 12 hypersonic projectiles into the Decepticon siege lines surrounding the Autobot capital of Iacon. It marveled at how easy it ultimately was to fool its brethren into destroying themselves. All it had taken was a vague command sent to Mainu One's little workstation to move The Array to what was referred to as 'ground level'. Such an action was forbidden by the Autobot Code as such ranges meant that The Array could tear out giant chunks of the planet too. The only ones who could authorize such a command was the Council of Primus. Having arranged his request to be sent during the middle of a Council meeting, Maximus Prime had apparently too busy to care what he was approving.

It was actually envious of Mainu One. The Autobot had done everything right. Upon receiving the request, he required confirmation. Confirmation was given. Then Mainu One detected the virus It had planted in their computer system. It was proud of that virus. For many solar cycles Mainu One's security scans had foiled Its attempts to access The Array and fire it at a predetermined set of coordinates. But finally, It succeeded in creating a virus Mainu One and his two assistants could not find. But now that it was active, they found it. While his assistants started asking 'what can we do?' Mainu One immediately started slapping down one override code after another.

However, the virus It had planted had altered the command code pathways. The Command Center in the Autobase could no longer directly submit any sort of password. Mainu One, thinking quickly, made the rather brilliant effort to overload The Array's power systems. This would kill the electromagnetic coils and automatic safeties in the weapons themselves would freeze the weapon's firing sequence and lock down the weapon. But It was prepared for that stratagem. Mainu One, to the Autobot's credit, had senses the presence of It. He knew his life was over. But still, he was so close to his goal, and so he performed his duty unto the last. Even after Its fist had punched through the weak armor of the Autobot's torso and pulled his spark free from its body the Autobot seemed to make one last lunge for the controls. But he didn't reach it. Though he had tried to the last, Mainu One had failed to save thousands of lives.

It watched The Array fire; the twelve hypersonic projectiles reach their targets and explode. Their detonation created an atmospheric shockwave with all the destructive force of a hurricane. Buildings crumpled before the awesome power of The Array and the Decepticons who were Its target were simply ripped apart by massive wind sheers. The shockwaves moved quickly, and as they passed they left nothing but a wave of devastation. Inward the shockwaves rushed towards the heart of Iacon. The shockwaves merging and becoming greater in power as the wave converged on the Autobase. It heard the rumble of metal supports, the squealing of metal walls losing structural integrity as the shockwave began to obliterate The Array. It knew the Autobase would survive mostly intact, but The Array would not. With The Array gone, any trace of Its presence would be wiped clean.

It gave one last look at Mainu One's body lying on the ground before raising his spark up in front of its face. It literally crushed Mainu One's spark. The spark's destruction caused its energy to blast out everywhere, but unlike escaping to the far corner of the universe like it normally did, the energy of Mainu One's spark was absorbed into It's own spark. Then it simply disappeared after crushing Mainu One's tiny head with its foot. Afterwards, The Array was consumed by its own power, and soon after, the Autobase felt the fury of the Autobot's own super weapon unleashed…

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn, Iacon – Meeting Room AR-01**

Centbot had never felt so lousy in his entire life. It was as if every power regulatory circuit in his body had gone haywire at once and flooded his system with raw energon. Damage and status indicators were splashing across his screen so fast Centbot couldn't see, so he shut them off. He was in what remained of a meeting room. As his memory slowly restored itself, he remembered he'd held a meeting here between himself and several other squad commanders. Optimal Retaliation had also been there but… _Optimal!_ The thought of his old friend and protégé having been killed flooded Centbot with worry and fear. His optics deftly scanned the room, and finally they found what they were searching for.

Several large shrapnel wounds peppered Optimal Retaliation's body. Sparks and live flowing energon seeped from those wounds, a clear sign of severe internal system damage. He needed to get to a medical bay, and needed to get there soon. He tried to stand up, but found his right leg wasn't moving. He tried to call up an internal diagnostic on his limb to find out the problem, but no information would come up. Irritated, Centbot glanced down and saw the reason why there was no information on his leg – it didn't exist. It had been ripped off at the knee.

That would also explain why he was laying face down on the conference room table with his left leg on top of it and the stump of his right leg resting against the wall. Irritated at his sudden disability, he tried to ask Optimal Retaliation a question. Strangely, his lips would move and his diagnostics swear his vocalizers were producing sound, but he could not hear himself speak. Thankfully, Optimal Retaliation answered Centbot's many questions with a single text message that Transformers were always capable of doing but rarely did because of its inefficiency.

_We got hit with some sort of sonic weapon. Apparently your audio receptors are out too because I couldn't hear you talking and I've been trying to yell at you to wake up for a while._ Was the message Optimal Retaliation sent to Centbot. Quickly, Centbot thought up a reply and sent it right back.

I can see you're wounded, where's everybody else?

_Alpha Strike got Silver Seraph and the others out. He tried to take me along too. I politely refused the offer, pointing out that you're not in a condition to go anywhere until you're awake and we can find out your status._

I'm missing another damned limb! _That's_ my _condition._ Centbot sent back to his friend, suddenly glad things like anger and rage didn't translate well through text messaging.

_You know what I mean Cent. Anyway, I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure we got hit by The Array. _

How do you figure? In the last vorn The Array has never been used for any reason. This has got to be a Decepticon attack.

_Cent… look out the window._

Centbot lifted up his head so he could look where Optimal Retaliation was now pointing. He was confused because this meeting room had no windows… but then he noticed better than half of the room had been torn away. That debris was probably what had damaged the room's occupants. Beyond that 'window' was a scene Centbot had never seen before (yet somehow found disturbingly familiar). Iacon; and it was ablaze with millions of fires springing up from buildings that looked like somebody had reached down with a massive hand, scooped them up, and then tossed them back into the city. The once giant spires of metal that seemed to stretch to the stars themselves; were now leveled with all the history they contained now lost forever. The lives contained within had most likely also perished. But this wasn't just one part of the city. The destruction encompassed every part of the city Centbot could see. It would not be a stretch to assume the entire city would be like this. Iacon, which had withstood countless invasions and assaults, had been completely destroyed in less than a minute. It was unreal.

By Primus… Was the only reply Centbot could manage. Optimal Retaliation's first reply was equally short.

_Indeed._ Then he sent another message to Centbot. _And there's no Decepticons buzzing around the city, Cent. The only thing that has so much destructive power is The Array._

Centbot merely grimaced at that message. Optimal Retaliation was right, only The Array was powerful enough to do so much damage so fast. But the only ones who could command it to fire is the Council of Primus… could it be possible the Autobots have been betrayed by their own leaders? A small surge of rage rushed through Centbot, but he calmed it before it went very far. He turned back to Optimal Retaliation, who had been watching his reaction all along, waiting.

Can you stand up? We're leaving.

Optimal Retaliation rolled onto his front, then slowly and perhaps even painfully got on all fours then stood up. He stood unsteadily and the production of sparks from his live wounds became more aggravated, but he stood. _Of course, not that I'd have a choice. You can't walk._

Centbot grunted, hating being reminded of his current handicap. He hated losing limbs, mostly because it made him dependant on others to make up for the handicap. Losing legs was the worst because then somebody had to either carry him or hold him up, both of which came within millimeters of violating Centbot's sense of pride. But, Optimal Retaliation was about as close to Centbot as anyone, and he was one of the few fellow Autobots Centbot would allow to cart him around like some disabled scrap heap.

_So then, where to, bossbot?_ Optimal Retaliation asked.

The Council Chambers. We have questions, they have answers.

_You think the Council betrayed us?_

Only one way to know for sure. Ask them. Was Centbot's answer, and with that, Optimal Retaliation hauled Centbot to his one surviving foot, and the two of them hobbled through the debris –and body- strewn corridor, both of them lost in their own thoughts as they proceeded up to the higher levels of Autobase. Weaving their way all the way to the top, where what remained of the Council Chambers was located.

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn, Iacon – Chambers of Councilor Maximus Prime**

The nature of the universe was always difficult to fully understand, but there were certain universal truths that one could cling too in order to better grasp the world they lived in. Gravity was one such constant. The passage of time was another. For the longest time Maximus Prime had put 'your own people will not point guns at your head and arrest you' among that list of constants. But not anymore, now from his point of view the universe had simply gone mad.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time Maximus Prime hadn't been able to process it all. He had been talking with Ghost Rider Prime and Tiger Prime when a request to confirm something came through. Being in a hurry and in a heated conversation with Tiger Prime, he'd signed the request without thinking. Then, suddenly, he awoke to find his fellow Councilors laying in pieces scattered across the room, and most of his own body crushed, mangled, or impaled on shrapnel. The city he had protected for so long… now lay in ruins…

From there, events only degenerated. It had suddenly appeared in the room, announced that under the authority of the code, Maximus Prime was being placed under arrest on charges of treason and two counts of attempted genocide. Since Maximus Prime was in no condition to offer resistance, they simply picked him off the floor, and carried him towards one of the Autobase's few working medical bays. On his way out he asked it what its name was, and it stated its name simply and without emotion: "I am Evolution Prime."

Two burly-looking Autobots walking past with a slumped, obviously heavily damaged Maximus Prime who was being dragged around as if he was a prisoner instead of one of the leaders of the Autobot race was a sight neither Autobot had expected to see. Then when Evolution Prime waked up to them, both Centbot and Optimal Retaliation were on their guard. Apparently noting their damaged condition, Evolution Prime used the same text messaging protocol Optimal Retaliation and Centbot had been using earlier. _You should not be here. In your state you need to be in a medical bay._

Centbot, however, had a rather urgent question to ask before he'd permit anyone else to worry about his health. Why is Maximus Prime being detained? Where are Tiger Prime and Ghost Rider Prime?

Evolution Prime, who was still standing in shadow so neither Centbot nor Optimal Retaliation could make out what he looked like just shook his head. _I am afraid that neither Ghost Rider Prime nor Tiger Prime survived the disaster. Maximus Prime has been detained on charges of violating the Code and attempting to commit genocide. Twice._

Twice? Explain that. Optimal Retaliation sent two messages, to both Centbot and Evolution Prime. Optimal Retaliation forwarded both Evolution Prime's reply and another message of his own to Centbot. They read as follows:

_A few cycles ago The Array fired at ground level directly above the Decepticon siege lines. What limited information I have shows that not only are we Autobots all but exterminated, so too are the Decepticons fragged. They were at ground zero. Single-handedly Maximus Prime has managed to wipe out most every Transformer on Seibertron. _

_A crime of this magnitude merits swift and decisive responses. Maximus Prime will be given a fair trial, but the evidence against him is quite overwhelming._

Optimal Retaliation's message came up next.

_Cent, notice how he's not limping? I'd bet my energon pay for the next solar cycle that he's not got a mark on him…_

Centbot nodded and noticed Optimal Retaliation was right. The vague outline of this Autobot's body showed him standing up perfectly erect. That would not be possible if he'd been caught in the devastation The Array had brought down upon Iacon. Centbot was immediately on guard, something was not right here. And under whose authority do you charge Maximus Prime with a Code violation? Only a member of the Council of Primus can charge another of their number with such a crime.

Evolution Prime laughed at that message, but of course neither Autobot could hear him. He quickly thought up a reply and sent it. _I charge him under my own authority. I am Evolution Prime, and since no current Prim can perform their duties, I as a Prime take on the duties of a member of the Council of Primus. I now lead the Autobots. Until that changes, that is all the authority I need. _

_However, I have a lot of recovery work to organize. So if you'll excuse me I must get back to helping our people recover._

Evolution Prime began walking away, but a few paces down the corridor he stopped and sent Centbot another message. _Oh, and get yourselves to a medical bay. That's an order._ Then Evolution Prime was down the corridor, round a corner, and was out of sight.

Optimal Retaliation sent Centbot one final message, asking Centbot what the heck was going on. Centbot gave the only reply he could at the moment. I don't know Optimal. Nothing about this makes sense. The only thing we know for sure is that this is not good. For now, we'll just have to pray Maximus Prime is innocent. We can't help him until we get to a med bay.

And with that the two Autobots made their way deeper into the Autobase. Their leaders were either dead or imprisoned; many Autobots had been killed by their own weapon, and now some previously unknown Prime has emerged to take over the reigns? Something _clearly_ was not right here. Centbot didn't know what that was, but he was sure of something – whoever had fired The Array was going to be severely punished. Centbot just hoped they'd punish the right perpetrator.


	2. Chapter 1

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn, Medical Bay Alpha 022**

It had felt like an eternity since Centbot had awoken without pain in some part of his body or another. It had been quite a few cycles since the meeting with Evolution Prime outside of Maximus Prime's office; so many that Centbot had lost count. He'd ultimately discovered that when his knee was crushed (and his leg subsequently cut off) the shock of it had sent a large amount of raw energon surging through Centbot's body and servo control circuitry. The medics had deemed it necessary to remove and replace every –last- section of neurological circuitry in Centbot's body.

It was a delicate and lengthy procedure, and what aggravated Centbot most was that during this entire time he could not move where he needed to be. The encounter with Evolution Prime gave Centbot thousands of questions to ask and solve, but his bedridden status meant that he could do nothing but sit and think. News reports that reached Centbot via the words of his friends did not bring comfort. The News was predictably dominated by two things: the trial of Maximus Prime and the unconfirmed reports that the Decepticons had called a cease-fire and withdrawn into Polyhex itself.

Of the two, the former was by far the most disturbing to Centbot. Maximus Prime's trial was not going well for the former Autobot leader. Evolution Prime had all but decreed Maximus Prime guilty as charged and even those Autobots who refused to let political or personal feelings affect their judgment and focused their attention on the facts still ended up pointing fingers at Maximus Prime. What upset Centbot so much was that all available evidence –_all available evidence_- said Maximus Prime was guilty and not one shred of evidence had arisen to refute that claim save his 'gut feelings'. No matter how much Centbot tried to believe the evidence and follow it, his instincts would not stop their pervasive efforts to make him feel like he was completely overlooking something that would prove Maximus Prime had not fired off The Array.

If the reports of the medics were any indication, Centbot was going to be in for many more cycles to come. Possibly even mega cycles if the pessimistic estimates came to pass. They assured him every method of speeding up the process was being taken, but it was hardly any sort of consolation for him. By Primus, he couldn't _move_ off of this infernal platform he was placed on. And these damned nightmares he'd been having lately gave him ample reason to toss and turn during his sleep cycles. All of this made Centbot extremely cranky, though he tried to conceal it when he had company. It wasn't easy keeping himself entertained when the only thing he could move was his metallic lips.

To their credit (and Centbot's irritation, BTW) his friends tried to raise his spirits while they were around on their way to visit other teammates. That wasn't really so hard, as Centbot could find amusement in pretty much any situation. Such as now, when Armourhide and Sharpwing got into yet another petty argument over who had helped clean up more sections of their ruined city today than the other. Windracer was there, along with Spearchucker and Silver Seraph. Most of them except for Windracer were team leaders like Centbot; however, at the moment their teams were in the same Medical Bay as Centbot was. But while their presence was to an extent welcomed, the hovering of the medical droid that was in the process of testing all of the recently installed neural connections in his body was not.

The test involved the accursed drone applying stimulation to each neural connection in sequence. Since these were all motor connections, this meant for the next breem or so Centbot's limbs would be flailing about as if they had minds of their own. To Centbot, nothing was worse than when you were a puppet whose strings were being pulled by an equally accursed medtech who had terrible bedside manners. The damn drones came in, did the test, then left. No casual conversation, just pure medical efficiency.

Centbot caught the eye of the newest arrival to the room – the former enemy now turned friend Deathcon One. The latest in a long line of Autobots who for reasons Centbot could not begin to fathom decided he had wisdom to impart upon them, Deathcon One had come to Centbot for a while now, seeking answers to her questions (a/n: at the end of _Past Failures_ Deathcon One had gone genderless. Out of purely whimsical reasoning, I've decided to refer to Deathcon One as a female, even though technically Deathcon One has no gender). Deathcon One walked over to Centbot, starting the conversation with her usually apology if she was interrupting him. _Poor lass, still doesn't understand that distractions such as these are a Godsend to me._ Centbot thought to himself with a smirk as his head shook in response to her comment.

"You bother me not, Deathcon One. As usual, your arrival was the high point of my day. So, how is Optimal Retaliation doing?" Centbot asked casually.

Deathcon One did that odd head bobbing thing she always did when he asked her how Optimal Retaliation was doing. Every last time she'd find something of great interest in the floor, a clear sign of hesitation and to Centbot a warning sign that all was not well between the two. Not that such was surprising considering the both of them had been former friends, then had to be given new bodies, and finally attempted to kill one another after a Decepticon warlord possessed the Autobot femme. Either way, she would always answer him eventually; it just took a little while. "Last I checked Optimal Retaliation was dispatched to the southern region on clean up detail. Another tower collapsed yesterday and they need all the manpower that's free to deal with it. Otherwise, he's tired and agitated, as we all are."

Centbot nodded, eagerly absorbing any news from the world outside of these confounded four walls. He pondered over a reply, and then decided to switch subjects for a bit. "Any news of Decepticon activities since the attack?"

Deathcon One shook her head. "The rumors remain rumors. Evolution Prime has refused to send scouting parties which are needed to help clean up. But so far it seems the Decepticons are licking their wounds just like us."

Centbot sighed as one of the drone's ministrations provoked his vocalizers to produce sound. He was partially mollified by her words, almost tempted to ask about any new info on the trial but deciding it was best to stay clear of that for now. Before he got to investigating anything, he needed to recover from his injuries, and that was some time away. He watched Armourhide and Windracer leave the room, then he turned back to Deathcon One and gently probed her for more information while helping her sort through the possible reasons why anyone would do something like what Maximus Prime had been accused of.

Centbot was half-tempted to write off the reasoning as the simple fact that some people were simply diabolical little s, but he didn't say that in the end. The two of them continued to talk for a long while, until at last the medics shoed him out, and regretfully, Centbot found himself alone again. Prisoner inside his own body which he was not permitted to use yet.

**Ruins of Iacon (Southern Quadrant), 2nd Vorn, Cleanup Detail**

Optimal Retaliation had once thought it was lucky that he had gotten out of the medical bay before Centbot had. Like Centbot, Optimal Retaliation hated being confined to some bed… but being out in the ruins made him rethink that line of thought. Not so long ago he's managed to stumble upon an Autobot who'd been caught under the tower when its supports crumbled. The way that Autobot had been crushed to the point of being completely two-dimensional was disheartening to say the least. Optimal Retaliation didn't really like the horrors that still came out of this place even now, but he sucked it up and kept working.

The Autobots had been lucky. Although damage had been severe, better than eighty percent of the recovered casualties were in a repairable condition. The numbers of actual deaths was comparatively small to the number of wounded. This was not the case for the Decepticons, tens of thousands had died. Though all Autobots were by nature peace-loving, it sickened Optimal Retaliation that part of him felt the deaths of so many Decepticons as a result of this tragedy was fitting justice. It was probably true that whomever fired The Array had thought exactly the same, and to think he was even capable of lowering himself to such a level was insulting to Optimal Retaliation.

Optimal Retaliation had come out here for some peace and quiet, some time away from the trial, the devastation, and the attempts by most of his fellow Autobots to denounce Maximus Prime as a murderer. Sadly, since coming out here everything reminded him of these events. There seemed to be no escape from it. Hearing the familiar sound of Armourhide's heavy footfalls on the metal debris he was stepping over as he and Windracer made their way over to his location, Optimal Retaliation prepared to greet his friends.

"How goes the clean up, Optimal?" Armourhide asked, and Optimal Retaliation just laughed. The answer, after all, was as plain as the massive pile of debris around them which marked where the tower had fallen. The swarm of Autobots trying to clear away the debris was also a rather obvious hint that they were only part of the way done with their task.

"It goes slowly, Armourhide. There's lots of secondary debris that has to be secured, lest the rest of the debris collapses on top of us while we work on cleaning up the mess. How about your sections?" Optimal Retaliation asked.

Windracer, having transformed into her rarely-used robot mode instead of her white dragon animal form just bounced her fist off of Optimal Retaliation's shoulder in a vain attempt to reprimand. "Now you know better than to ask that question without first asking us if we'd like to help."

Optimal Retaliation's optic lifted up. The classic Transformer version of a lifted eyebrow. "I had assumed you two were on break."

Armourhide chuckled. "Nope buddy, we're already done in the Eastern Sector. Evolution Prime is sending in the specialists now to secure the area for salvage operations."

"Ah." Optimal Retaliation nodded to Armourhide, and then turned back to Windracer. "How's Cent doing?"

The Autobot femme shrugged her shoulders and took Optimal Retaliation's heavy grav lifter from him, using it to begin clearing out debris. Next to her, Armourhide was doing the same after finding one for himself. "Cent's cranky as usual. I don't know how much longer he's going to be able to take sitting in that medical bay."

Optimal Retaliation had found a replacement lifter, and together with ease born out of constant repetition of this very action the three friends began clearing out debris from the local area. Beginning with the bodies that happened to have been thrown clear of the tower when it crashed. They worked quickly, and over the loud whirring noises of their equipment they had to raise their voices to hear one another. "Indeed. Centbot is bad enough on a good day, but the crankiness of a bed-ridden Centbot is beyond measure."

Optimal Retaliation had no choice but to laugh at that. Centbot was his friend, and he knew how much his current inability to move was killing Centbot. It wasn't just the indignity of being attended to, Optimal Retaliation knew, it was the simple fact that everybody else was doing something to help get Iacon back on its feet. Centbot could not do anything right now.

Optimal Retaliation's injuries were more severe, but his wounds required quick and immediate replacement of several major pieces of equipment. Being high on the priority list got Optimal Retaliation and all the rest of them out of the medical bays real quick. Armourhide was actually still working with the factory produced arms given to him so he could function adequately until new limbs could be made to fit. Windracer had been found buried in one of the collapsed sections of the Autobase, along with Armada Red Alert. She had been good to go with some minor body repairs, but Red Alert – like Centbot – required much longer-lasting treatments. In fact, if memory served him correctly Armada was still listed in critical condition. Hence the reason she had been in the medical bay with Centbot earlier, to check on her team leader.

Armourhide had been the luckiest of the three of them, really. Optimal Retaliation had been the worst off and Windracer filling out the midline of damage amongst their little trio. In fact, one of the first things Optimal Retaliation had been worried about was that Windracer had not survived the disaster that had struck this city.

As he looked over at her profile as she helped Armourhide guide a rather hefty chunk of debris towards a disposal unit, Optimal Retaliation allowed himself to recall his immense relief the moment he'd seen her alive and well back in the Autobase. He took great pleasure in the fact that all of his friends still lived. There were others he well knew who were still in mourning for lost comrades.

It would be at least a cycle before work was beginning to make any significant dent in the mountain of debris they were working on, and the three friends needed a break. Seizing the day, Windracer grabbed both the hand of Optimal Retaliation and Armourhide, moving them towards a local energon pub. Both Autobots let themselves be dragged around, but Optimal Retaliation's thoughts continued to focus on the city and all he'd seen. After all, they'd only get a few breems of rest. Then it was right back to work, a work detail most of them wanted so much to forget.

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn, Detention Cell 576AX**

Maximus Prime rested his head quietly against his cell wall, his optics darkened as he had no need to look at anything right now. If there was ever a time Maximus Prime had felt more out of place it was now. He'd spent so much time listening to people –even the medics- hurl vile insults at him, calling him a traitor and a murderer for a crime he couldn't even remember if he committed or not. All the evidence pointed to him as the culprit of the crime – the evidence said he'd fired The Array.

How in the world Maximus Prime could bring himself to commit such an action was completely beyond his comprehension. The medics had resented repairing him, he could tell. Oh, they hid it well, but a politician/warrior like Maximus Prime did not hold a position on the Council of Primus without knowing how to read fellow Transformers. He could see it in their postures, their rough handling of him, and the glares he received in court whenever one of them was called upon to testify as to whether or not Maximus Prime really couldn't remember or if this was all some elaborate ploy for mercy.

_Idiot prosecutor. If I wanted to hide my involvement in this affair, I'd have shot the bastard witnesses by now._ Maximus Prime thought to himself angrily. Evolution Prime had set up the classic Autobot tribunal to decide on the charges, as demanded by the Code. Maximus Prime had been forced to endure so much maligning of his character, listening to somebody he barely knew paint him as some murdering monster. Some part of him began to doubt himself, even though he knew he didn't have any desire to launch such a devastating weapon on his enemies. But still… he couldn't help but wonder what if he had done it? Was it possible that Maximus Prime could turn his back on the very Code he had helped write?

As he'd been doing a lot lately, Maximus Prime slowly began to drum his head against the wall of his cell, berating himself for questioning his innocence. He was a member of the Council of Primus; his duty to the Autobots was to be their leader and their protector. It was his duty, and one part of himself Maximus Prime had not doubted was his willingness to perform his duty onto the last.

Still… no evidence came forward to prove his innocence, and unless his memory returned Maximus Prime knew the odds of him being punished for a crime he was still mostly certain he didn't commit were good. Maximus Prime tried to cheer himself up a bit by saying that things could be worse, but he knew that was a lie. What he now faced was as bad as it got short of _knowing_ you committed the crime. And soon it would all start over again.

And for the first time in forever, Maximus Prime was certain he was alone in facing what came. The trial seemed a mere formality to him now. He had little doubt that despite his innocence and his honest belief in said innocence he'd be found guilty anyway and sentenced to die. Seemingly betrayed by his own people, Maximus Prime indulged himself in feeling so completely alone… hope, it seemed, was nothing but a myth now.

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn – Detention Cell Guard Station Alpha**

Wedge yawned quietly, trying to avoid the wrath of Mindtrick, who smacked Wedge upside the back of his head every time he yawed as a result of this bogus guard duty assignment. He flinched, expecting that hand to descend on his dented cranial unit any astrosecond now, but it never did. Or rather, Mindtrick waited until Wedge relaxed and let down his guard before whacking his teammate twice as hard as he normally did. The impact spun Wedge around in his seat, and Wedge quickly killed his spin, turning to glare at Mindtrick. "Stop doing that already! I'm a doctor damnit, not a prison guard!"

Though Wedge quoted one of Mindtrick's favorite television characters, he was not deterred. Leaning back in his chair as if he was slacking off even more than Wedge, but rest assured is optics were perfectly focused on his security monitors in front of him, ready for any foolhardy to escape from any jail he was in charge of. After all, he was not a counter intelligence operative for nothing. "You are neither a doctor; or a very good guard. I swear on the grave of Primus himself that you'd let the Tripedicus Council itself walk right out of any prison cell you were guarding while you snore."

Wedge glared at Mindtrick, but said nothing further. He tried to keep his optics open, but it was hard. This was _sssssssssssssooooooooooo_ boring! Wedge so devoutly wished something interesting would happen… but of course, nothing ever did. For now, he was stuck here, and so long as Mindtrick was around, Wedge couldn't go hacking the mainframe to amuse himself. It seemed that for now it was his lot in life to suffer. He just wished Mindtrick would get out of this 'ultimate guardzilla' mode he was in and go back to the laid-back Mindtrick he used to swindle huge amounts of energon chips with in various local gambling establishments.

Those days seemed so far away to him now. Strangely enough, Mindtrick was thinking about the very same thing Wedge was.

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn?**

'It' was on the prowl again. The firing of The Array and the death of Mainu One was merely the beginning of its ambitions. There was a plan 'It' had to follow, many Autobots and Decepticons still had to be made to see the folly of their ways. They could no longer be permitted to live in their ignorance and destroy one another. It had to show them the truth once again, but first all those who stood for the old ways must be eradicated to make room for new beginnings.

'It' silently stalked the corridors of the Autobase, easily able to avoid detection since 'It' was one of their own. It had two tiny; diminutive targets that needed eradication. Those little Autobots had begun to question the circumstances of their sibling's fate, and now they would soon share it.

Finally, 'It' had found them: Mainu One's brothers. Mainu Dos and Mainu Tres, less than a dozen meters down the corridor. Unlike their brother, 'It' was disappointed when the two tiny Autobots had never understood their peril until they joined their brother as part of 'It', their sparks sharing the same fate as Mainu One's. In that, at least, 'It' supposed it had done those little Autobots a favor, as they were at last reunited with their brother, even if for a short while.

But this had not been as entertaining as 'It' had hoped. In the end, 'It' was about to acknowledge that it was having no fun this night, and so it used a remote access hack to shut down the corridor lights in order to aide its escape after making sure the security system was down and taking the information they had been about to give to Evolution Prime. That was when it had felt the timeslip, and it smiled…

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn?**

Mindtrick had been the first on the scene after the security system had been remotely shut down. Wedge, being one of the most adept computer hackers and communications specialists the Autobots had, was quickly able to trace the security breach to its source. Mindtrick, knowing that the odds of getting to the location in time were slim using conventional travel, instead timeslipped. Being able to travel through time at a faster rate had its advantages, and by slipping he was able to reach the corridor access terminal while the intruder was still in the area.

Mindtrick had his optics adjusted for night vision, so making out fine details of 'It's appearance but what he could make out was two Autobots laying on the ground – and they weren't moving. Sadly, it was about that time he ran out of power to sustain his timeslip, so from his quarry's perspective Mindtrick suddenly appeared in the corridor, not ten meters from its back. That was when 'It' turned around, and Mindtrick leveled his semi-automatic rifle at its head. "Hold it right there! Move and I'll shoot!"

'It' merely chuckled, amused. Then 'It' vanished, almost like Mindtrick did when he timeslipped, only this Transformer appeared directly in front of Mindtrick the very instant after it disappeared, its right palm twisting into a claw and punching into Mindtrick's torso. Never having a chance to react, Mindtrick could only yell in immense pain as 'It' drained his spark of energy. Thankfully, however, the pain was momentary. 'It' drained Mindtrick's spark of its power much too fast for the pain to last long.

His world faded to black, and Mindtrick, the suave counter intelligence agent famed for leaving his friends and enemies dumbstruck, finally understood what it meant to be completely outmatched by an enemy. Though his one shot had managed to score a direct hit on his target, it was not enough. Not nearly enough.

**Autobase, 2nd Vorn, Medical Bay Alpha 022**

Centbot had been counting down from ten billion out of complete, random boredom when suddenly a great commotion was heard from the corridors outside. The door to the medical bay flew open, and several medtechs stormed into the bay, rousing several patients from their sleep cycles as the medtechs dragged in another Autobot on a hover stretcher. Their speech was glib, quick paced and filled with the bizarre string of numbers and information only medtechs would understand on short notice. Centbot only caught one snippet of normal conversation among them: "Damn bastard! It left him with just enough energy to live!"

Centbot watched as they hooked up an EIU (Energon Infusion Unit) to the Autobot, then began removing damaged portions of the armored casing around the Autobot's spark chamber. Now that most of the medtechs were away gathering equipment, Centbot got a good look at the Autobot, seeing that it was Mindtrick. Shortly thereafter, Wedge entered the bay, followed by Evolution Prime. Wedge immediately went to Mindtrick's side, and Evolution Prime stayed back a bit and gave Wedge some space. Noticing Centbot's questioning gaze, Evolution Prime turned to address the immobile Autobot.

"We don't know what happened to him, Centbot. But we can only presume whoever did this to Mindtrick also did that." Evolution Prime pointed his thumb behind him, and turned away so Centbot could see. Two drones were pushing two more hover stretchers into the bay, but no medtechs swarmed around them. Centbot recognized them as Mainu One's brothers, both of their spark chambers having been removed by force. Centbot shuddered involuntarily.

"Did the sensors record the attack?" Centbot asked, now understanding what had happened to Mindtrick. Centbot suddenly felt extremely apprehensive, like somehow he'd gone through this once before. It was the same thing as when he'd seen the smoldering remains of Iacon after The Array had destroyed it… it was like he'd went through all of this before and he didn't understand how. A flash of pain went through Centbot's mind, but he ignored it and focused on Evolution Prime's response.

"No… but believe me, if Maximus Prime thinks he is going to get away with this, he's dead wrong." Evolution Prime said quietly, his tone frustrated.

"Wha?" Centbot asked, confused and with his headache now subsiding he could now focus a little better. "You can't be blaming Maximus, he's in a-"

Evolution Prime turned on Centbot swiftly, his right arm lashing into empty air as he bellowed a command for Centbot to be silent. All eyes in the room (even the medtechs momentarily) turned to face the two Autobots, as Centbot glared at Evolution Prime but did indeed remain silent. "Maximus Prime clearly hired someone else to do this attack, because Mainu Dos and Mainu Tres were on their way to give me proof of Maximus Prime's guilt. This is all that's left."

Evolution Prime tossed a slagged data disk onto Centbot. Centbot, unable to move couldn't catch it, and it ended up bouncing off of him and landing on Centbot's little cot. Evolution Prime crossed his arms over his chest, as if Centbot should say something. "This… isn't possible."

"It is possible, Centbot. Maximus Prime has gone too far, and once I prove he did this too, it will be the end of him. The truth will not be suppressed any longer." With that, Evolution Prime turned on his mechanized heel and stormed out of the med bay in a huff. The room descended into stark silence, and Centbot's headache came back, only now it was worse than ever. This simply could not be… but once again the evidence spoke for itself. Centbot noticed however when Evolution Prime left that his right shoulder was damaged, as if a bullet had impacted against the armor there.

Slowly, the med bay returned to normal activity, but everyone in the room had a pervasive feeling that they'd just witnessed a very important event, and something in that moment had passed them by completely.

**Iacon, 2nd Vorn, Autobase Exterior Ruins**

'It' smiled for the second time within the same cycle. 'It' could sense it, Centbot was beginning to remember. At long last, the pieces were coming together. It could not help but laugh as 'It' returned to the place it called home. The laugh continued all the way home, as 'It' returned to Agorahex…

* * *

Heh… well, that's a crapload of typing, and I am not done quite yet folks. Since this chapter is the start of the 'main' plotline for _Iconic Ruin_, I thought it fitting to include in this chapter a preview of what's to come in upcoming Acts of the story. This is my first preview, so forgive me if it's not so good but alas, enjoy this brief glimpse into the future:

This preview has been rated 'T' for Transformers

_A people divided…_

Every Autobot had their eyes focused on the myriad of weapons they had pointing at them and others throughout the area.

_To the brink of civil war they have come, as a new leader replaces a fallen hero…_

"I lead the Autobots now. And until that changes, that's all the authority I need."

_In the fallout of a great disaster their world will fall apart…_

'It' could not help but chuckle as it made its way home – at long last all of the pieces had come together.

_As an unseen hand guides both old enemies and new towards an end…_

Gore awoke from the CR chamber, his massive mechanized palms gripping and almost crushing the chamber walls. "Autobots. Must. Pay!"

_And friendships will fall apart, one-by-one…_

"You've got to be kidding. I'm not joining you…" Optimal Retaliation told Windracer as he walked past her. "… For any reason."

_But what secrets will be revealed in time no one can know…_

Transformers – Heavy Metal War: _Iconic Ruin _(Act I – Civil Strife)


	3. Chapter 2

To Windy: While I appreciate your constant reviews and your praise, please don't worship me. It makes me blush with embarrassment and all that mushy stuff… and I'm hardly worship-worthy.

To Phelan: Thanks for pointing out the confusion inherit in the Prologue. It is something I in the end could not avoid, but intend to fix after the project is complete. But thanks for reading.

To the rest of the readers: Save my life and leave some reviews! I like getting praise as much as the next guy, but I can always use help with parts of the fic that aren't so good. And I won't really know what's good for the audience or not if nobody points it out. XD

**Disclaimer: **Unless you've not yet read the Prologue to this fanfiction yet, you know I stake no claim to the Transformer franchise. Similarly, I make no claim to the Heavy Metal War game which provided the inspiration for this fanfiction. But all characters that appear in this fanfiction are alternate variations of characters submitted to this project by a variety of people. I accept no responsibility for any actions a character may make that their original creator believes to be out of character.

I do my best to follow the guidelines set forth by the original creators, but in the end every character will end up probably being different from the original one. Hence why this is set in an original universe. Any Autobot or Decepticon players whose characters have not appeared yet in this work be patient – I have much more story to tell, your characters WILL appear. Lastly, all original characters, concepts, and etc. featured in this fanfiction belong to me, and may not be taken without my consent.

**Northern Skies, 2nd Vorn, Polyhex**

Knightbird was among the most recognizable of Transformers regardless of faction. None who saw her forgot the femme's slender, almost bony frame. Though relatively tall, the thin, segmented wings and body of this pterodactyl form Decepticon was unmistakable. With her wings flapping in sequence to keep her in the air, Knightbird found some measure of solace in her solitude up in the skies of Seibertron. Her orders handed down by the Tripedicus Council disturbed her in ways she did not understand.

To be sure Knightbird had absolutely no reservations whatsoever about killing the guilty party behind the firing of The Array and killing so many of her fellow Decepticons. But her moral objections came from knowing that the Autobots had likely imprisoned a suspect already. The Autobots had always contended that they had moral superiority over their Decepticon enemies. Until recently, Knightbird had not doubted this claim. Her orders were to investigate the true identity of whoever fired that accursed Autobot weapon and then execute whoever had done the deed. It was justice Decepticon style.

But if the Autobots had detained that prisoner, then Knightbird had been assigned to eliminate a helpless foe. She detested such dishonorable tactics, she really did. She wanted her enemy on their feet, weapon in hand and at least running away. Not gagged, bound, and dumped into some holding cell like refuse. It was not only immoral, but an insult to her warrior's pride. Knightbird did not stoop to those levels if she could help it, but at the same time the orders came from Decatron himself. She could not disobey orders. This was the source of Knightbird's confusion – the need to balance her duty with her morality. It was a monumental task that consumed her thoughts as she slowly made her way towards the distant ruins of Iacon.

**Council CR Chambers, 2nd Vorn, Polyhex**

Gore's massive mechanical hands shot out of the CR chamber, their large mechanical fingers compressing the metal walls in their unbreakable grip. He was panting, enraged at the memory of being caught in the midst of his troops when The Array fired. The Autobots had dared shoot him when his guard was down, and he was so very, very angry. "Autobots. Must. Pay!" Gore shouted into the room, his grip on the Chamber walls went slack to that he might punch his fists through the CR chamber instead.

Another voice made itself heard as Gore heard the distinctive whirring of a CR chamber door opening. Gore noted that his door was not opening, possibly due to the fact that his punches had ripped out the door hydraulics. "Do calm down Gore, I just woke up, loud noises only make my headache worse." Grunting, Gore aimed a single kick at the door to his Chamber, kicking it clear off its hinges and sending it slamming into the far wall of the room with a thunderous bang that made Galvatron Prime jump a meter or two into the air.

"By Primus Gore! Didn't I just tell you not to do that? Do I have to shoot you to get you to listen?" Galvatron Prime ranted off, his fusion cannon leveling itself at Gore's head. The much bulkier Gore just shrugged, utterly unconcerned about the thought of death given that he had Autobots he needed to kill in his quest for the Matrix.

"The door wasn't opening; there was no time for subtlety." He stated matter-of-factly, and Galvatron Prime just scoffed.

"You didn't have to kick the door down so hard."

Again, Gore shrugged, not caring about Galvatron Prime's discomfort in the least. "I guess I don't know my own power."

The other Decepticon's optics narrowed and his fusion cannon sparked. "I'll give you 'I don't know my own power'…" He muttered just before Decatron fired his own fusion cannon into the air between them, surprising them both. They turned to face him, not at all amused at the fact he'd fired on them.

"That was _not_ funny." Galvatron Prime said at length.

"For once, the little one has a point." Gore said with a slight smirk, enjoying it when Galvatron Prime whipped his cannon around, then remembered Decatron's presence and thought better of it.

Decatron looked between the two of them, his gaze sweeping across them both. "I'd remind you two that you both were literally torn to shreds out there. The Autobots have dared to attack us so boldly, and if we're to answer them in force I don't need the two of you blasting each other to the bowls of Unicron and back again for the rest of our cycles. We formed this Council because only together are we able to crush the Autobots decisively. Or have you forgotten that?"

Under Decatron's stern gaze, Gore and Galvatron Prime remained silent. With their petty squabbling done with for today, Decatron returned to business. "Now Gore, do not worry, the Autobot who fired The Array at us will pay the ultimate price. As we speak, I have dispatched Knightbird to deal with him or her. I have full confidence in Knightbird's abilities to find and kill the protoformic bastard who did this. In the meantime, however, I have something for you to vent your frustrations on Gore."

Gore straightened up, both relieved to be doing something and resenting Decatron talking like he was in charge of the Council. "What do you have?" Decatron handed Gore an old-fashioned data grid, and Gore scanned the document.

"A lot of our old friends seem to be coming back from the grave lately. It's starting to turn into a running gag, and I'm sick of it. What about you?" Decatron asked Gore, noting with satisfaction that soon after he finished reading the report, Gore crushed the data grid in his palm right then and there.

"I'm bloody well sick of it. People –Autobots in particular- need to stay dead when they are blown away." Gore muttered, now stuck between uncontrollable rage and an all-consuming hatred. He proceeded to stomp his way out of the Council chambers, heading for parts unknown. After he was gone, Decatron looked over to Galvatron Prime.

"You ready?" Was the only question Decatron asked, and correspondingly Galvatron Prime looked at him with utter confusion.

"Ready for what?"

Decatron laughed, but it was not the pleasant sort of laughter. This was the 'somebody is going to die' sort of maniacal laughter. "Gathering what's left of our forces together, of course. Somebody's trying to play master manipulator in the Autobot ranks, and I will not be the victim of their scheming again. When our forces are ready for battle, we march against whatever's left of Iacon."

Decatron was about to leave, but Galvatron Prime stopped him with an outstretched hand. "Level with me, Decatron. What's going on?"

Decatron sighed, not really wanting to admit this but not really having the time to be vague. "Haven't you felt for the past few cycles that something familiar is going down? Like somewhere, somehow… we've done this before?"

Galvatron Prime thought that over for a minute, and finally shook his head. "No, no déjà vu for me. I'd think an event such as this was one I could remember. But you're still not telling me something."

"That data grid I showed Gore is connected to a remote sensor and tracking unit we assigned to remotely observe a group of Autobot engineers and weapons designers who were working on an offensive breed of nanotechnology after we learned of it. We attacked their facility, only to find someone else beat us to it. Most of the engineers were slain save two, and we presumed the Autobots had destroyed their own work until now."

"One of those Autobots has resurfaced, haven't they?"

Decatron went silent for a long moment, and then finally began to tell Galvatron Prime of events during the time before the Tripedicus Council was even a dream. "One of them we've been able to track all along, but curiously he's never seemed to remember anything from the project. The other one we thought we'd killed a long time ago."

Galvatron Prime couldn't help but snicker. "You're telling me the almighty Gore and Decatron could not eliminate one tiny Autobot?"

Decatron's fist slammed into Galvatron Prime's fast so hard and fast he'd never seen it coming. The blow threw the Decepticon into the far wall to come crumbling down to the floor with Decatron standing over his fallen counterpart. "We had good reason to assume that Autobot had perished, even if it now seems this is not the case. This is why I want this over with as soon as possible, and our armies to march on Iacon as soon as they are ready."

Galvatron Prime remained on the ground, letting his gyros stabilize themselves. "And so why aren't you going after the second Autobot scientist? Ever consider the fact that he might not be telling you everything he knows?"

Decatron scoffed and turned away from the fallen Galvatron Prime, walking out of the room. He walked out of that room without sparing a second glance at Galvatron Prime, knowing that he needed to keep some secrets to himself. _After all, if Centbot knew anything, Gore probably would have beaten it out of the Autobot by now. They've certainly butted heads often enough._ Continuing down the corridor leading to his private quarters, Decatron turned his thoughts to the future. There was widespread unrest among the troops. His Decepticons demanding a swift, decisive assault on the Autobots and they would not be kept waiting for long.

Knightbird's mission had mollified the worst outcries, but the bloodlust amongst the ranks was strong and it was growing. If it continued unabated, the Tripedicus Council would loose control entirely and the fragile alliance of Decepticons would shatter. If victory was to come this day, Decatron knew, it would have to come soon. Lest the likes of Dust N' Bones, Starscream SB, and others split the Decepticons and launch their own attack. And if that happened, his plans would be permanently crippled. That he would not permit – ever.

**Autobase – Medical Bay Alpha 022, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

Centbot was dancing, literally. At long last, the neurological reconstruction was completed and the medics had cleared him for active duty on the condition that he takes things easy. Naturally, he did nothing of the kind. In his jubilation at finally being able to move again Centbot let humility fly off into the wind and let himself act like a complete fool, darting about the room in dance poses that clearly illustrated Centbot's utter ineptitude in dancing. Each dancing pose he adopted was more ridiculous than the last.

The other patients in the medical bay cheered him on, including Mindtrick, who thankfully was well on his way to recovery. Though due to massive power loss to his spark, he was unable to move much. But Centbot's antics provided them all with much-needed humor in a day otherwise completely devoid of it. Every Autobot in the room had been stunned by the news that a verdict had been reached in the trial of Maximus Prime. But before the verdict could be announced, one of the patients literally shot the monitor with a laser pistol.

Taking the cue that nobody wanted to face the possibility of Maximus Prime having been found guilty, Centbot began acting like an idiot, and everyone followed along. They needed this, because now more than ever they had to be faced with the true reality of their world beyond these four walls. None of them wanted to face it yet, but in the back of their minds, all of them wondered what the verdict was. The lot of them were afraid of that verdict, a final admission that the Iacon they knew was gone forever.

They were the lucky ones, the ones who for just that precious little while longer could duck the big question looming before every Autobot. They were the ones who did not at this moment have to pass final judgment over one of their own. But sadly, they would not remain this way for long.

**Amphitheater of Primus, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

For the first time since taking over command of the Autobots as the sole surviving member of the Council of Primus Evolution Prime was concerned. Though he himself was on cloud nine, there was no way to predict how the people would react to the news he now had a duty to bring them. Standing several meters back from the podium situated at the heart of the massive and ornately decorated Amphitheater of Primus Evolution Prime scanned the crowd of Autobots for any sign of possible reactions to his words.

Sadly, his fellow Autobots showed only curiosity and even fear in their expressions. Nova Strike, Optimal Retaliation, Iron Chef Energon, Windracer, Armourhide, and so many others packed this place, with most of them seeming to be here reluctantly. _Fear is illogical, you are their leader and you have a duty to perform. Get out there already._ Evolution Prime told himself forcefully, and reluctantly he stepped one foot in front of the other, advancing on the podium with a stride of forced confidence and ease he most certainly did not have at this moment.

Stepping up to the podium, he took a few moments to steel himself before speaking. The Amphitheater was made to house several hundred thousand Transformers, but since the Autobot population now totaled less than 45,000 Transformers every Autobot who was not confined to a medical bay was here in this very room. He was truly addressing the people. "My fellow Autobots, all of you are aware that Maximus Prime, a beloved protector of our people for many solar cycles had been imprisoned under charges of treason and attempted genocide. A while ago, the tribunal announced its verdict."

When Evolution Prime stopped talking for a few moments, the assembled crowd seemed to hang on his next words; the universe itself seemed to wait until he spoke again before resuming the flow of time. But, finally, time resumed, and Evolution Prime spoke again. "On one count of treason and two counts of attempted genocide, Maximus Prime has been found guilty as charged on all counts." Almost immediately the crowd erupted in conversation of its own, as Autobot turned to fellow Autobot and began expressing their fears about what Maximus Prime's sentence was going to be. But the Code demanded only one punishment for the crime of attempted genocide.

Before Evolution Prime announced the sentence, Windracer instinctively inched herself closer to Armourhide, who barely noticed the sudden proximity. She looked over at Optimal Retaliation briefly, and saw Optimal Retaliation had gone impossibly rigid throughout his entire body, his facial expression so still it could have been forged from a solid sheet of metal. When the sentence was announced, there was dead silence for a short while.

It didn't take long for protests to begin, but thankfully none were violent. Evolution Prime however, now saw that a bitter division had formed in the Autobot ranks without anyone seeing it until it was too late. What he had feared had come to pass – the Autobots had lost their unity. He had to resort to his backup plan.

**, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

'It' was smiling. For more than one reason too. Maximus Prime was the first to fall, and now that he was out of the way, there was little to stand directly in the way of 'It's ambitions. The time had come for 'It' to move aggressively. Standing up, the Autobot moved over to a large set of monitors on which was displayed schematics of various Autobots and Decepticons core consciousness. All of them had the nanotech memory blocks which had been planted by the traitor, and if 'It' was to succeed, one by one these Transformers must be made to remember their past. And more importantly, who it was who had betrayed them all so long ago.

Since each of these Transformers already had been implanted with the nanotech, all 'It' needed to do was deactivate them and provide the necessary stimulation to get their memory working again. It selected the traitor, and brought up the nanotech command sequence. "And now, he who seals away his own past shall know the truth… only then can he know the final judgment of those he betrayed."

'It' depressed a button, and glanced at his console. The console chirped at him, and for the first time in a Vorn 'It' laughed joyfully. The nanotech was shut down, and so once his virus took hold, 'It' would finally have its old friend back. 'It' would finally avenge itself upon the traitor who dared try to destroy him.

**Autobase – Medical Bay Alpha 022, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

Reya Dawnbringer ran into the medical bay, interrupting Centbot's rather pitiful attempt to break dance. The fembot medic was panting heavily, which suggested she had run a great distance. Centbot stopped his dancing and moved over towards Reya after standing up. He placed his arms on her shoulders, and waited until she was properly settled down. When she had collected herself, she forcefully seized Centbot's arms and shouted out what she had run all this way to say. "Cent… they've found him guilty…" Reya took a moment before screaming, "They're going to execute Maximus Prime!"

The jaw of every last Autobot in the room hit the deck, and as happened at the Amphitheater of Primus, dead silence took hold in that room for a brief moment. The brief respite from reality had officially come to an end, and now the time for ultimate judgment had come to pass. Centbot took a few steps back from Reya, shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't be… there's no…"

In mid-sentence Centbot's optics flashed red, and Centbot dropped hard to his knees. A status message flashed across Centbot's internal system readouts as his nanotech was remotely shut down; and as a crippling flash a pain consumed him Centbot had time to ask only one question: "Virsago?"

Then Centbot's optics went out completely and as if he were dead, he tilted backwards until at last he hit the deck and did not rise again. Reya Dawnbringer was immediately down at his side, checking vitals. Mindtrick and every other Autobot in the room could only watch the scene unfold before them as Reya Dawnbringer quickly realized that Centbot was completely unresponsive and immediately began calling for assistance.

Seemingly nothing made any sense anymore… to anyone in that room. Or in the whole of Iacon for that matter.

So ends Act I of Transformers – Heavy Metal War: _Iconic Ruin._ See you all in Act II.


	4. Chapter 3

**Iacon, 1.5 Vorns Ago (approx. 124.5 Earth years)**

_Centbot felt himself be adrift, slowly sinking into the depths of the city below him. The strangest thing of all was that he was hitting things that looked slid during his descent into the dark depths – causeways, patios, launch ramps for flight-capable Transformers. But he was passing through them all. It was as if he was going through an out-of-body experience, as he could see his own body sinking into the darkness surrounding. But what Centbot noticed with mounting concern was that the darkness was increasing the further down his body went. _

"This cannot be right… there's no light… where am I?" _Centbot asked, not expecting an answer from the dark depths he had found himself in. Nevertheless, one came back to him anyway – and it was his own voice. _

"There is nothing right about losing your mind, my young friend. Regardless… this is real and you're not dreaming." _The voice, which seemed to come from everywhere in the darkness surrounding Centbot, was quiet but forceful, and even though it was his own voice it sounded different. The voice was older, more confident… as if the voice already knew what Centbot was thinking. That, above all else, worried Centbot the most. Speaking to yourself was never a good sign, but Centbot was quite certain he was sane, and as the voice said, this didn't feel like a dream. It was more like… a memory. A memory of Iacon as it was, long, long ago. _

"Who are you, and where am I?" _Centbot demanded, and in response to Centbot's question the darkness shifted, and suddenly the city faded away. Everything around Centbot faded to black, but it didn't stay that way for long. Slowly, something formed out of the darkness, a Transformer. Slightly stocky, just under being tall for a Transformer and possessing a neat array of six long and slender wings on its backpack. _

_The newly born Transformer looked over at Centbot, its optics lit with a dark red color, and once again it used Centbot's voice, but Centbot was certain he'd never seen this Transformer before. _"I am but a humble guide, placed within your mind to help point you in the right direction as you begin your journey. You are on the beginning of the path to self-discovery – you will soon know who you really are." _The darkness became absolute, and Centbot could feel the cold tendrils of darkness begin to attach to his body and slowly spread across his body. Shuddering at the contact, Centbot tried to pull away from their grip, but their grasp was firm and unrelenting. _"Do not struggle, my friend. I am sorry, but this is necessary for you to begin your journey. Something outside of you is resisting our efforts to help you remember the past. If that continues, then we cannot help you."

_Centbot redoubled his efforts to escape, futile as they were._ "Ever consider that I don't _want_ your help! I know who I am!" _Centbot shouted at the other Transformer, who merely smirked at his words. That Transformer walked across the darkness until he was right in front of Centbot, until their faceplates practically touched. _

"Do you really know who you are, Centbot? Have you not felt those odd feelings stirring within you, the sense that somehow you're trying to remember something important that is completely veiled in darkness?" _It cupped Centbot's chin with its thin fingers. _"Do you know why I'd be here, within your own mind; was I not placed here by you?" _It let go of Centbot and stepped back. _"_Think_, my friend… this is your mind, not mine. I wouldn't be allowed in here was I not invited. If it helps… think of me as a fragment from your past – something that is here to give you the answers you seek." _Centbot continued to struggle, despite the nice speeches, but despite those efforts, the darkness continued to spread. Now it was completely enveloping Centbot's arms and legs, and was working its way across his hips and shoulders. _

"Resistance is futile, Centbot. Even if you do not wish it to be… you will come to remember your true self in time. This is but the beginning of your journey." _It said finally, at great length. Then it vanished into the darkness, leaving Centbot to continue his futile struggle. It was then that Centbot noticed the strange aura of white light around his body, which was seemingly holding back the darkness from engulfing him further. Centbot watched this struggle between literal light and darkness for a while, until finally, the light lost the struggle and the darkness finished what it began._

_As the darkness worked it way to Centbot's core conscience, he shouted as hard as he could as everything went frigidly cold… and then all was dark. Centbot would never fully comprehend what happened to him next, as when he awoke he was no longer the Centbot he had been…_

**Autobase – Medical Bay Alpha 022, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

"No, no, no, no! Don't you dare give up on me now, you stubborn pile of…" Reya Dawnbringer said icily as she watched the progress of the virus infecting Centbot's internal systems jump exponentially. Her anti-virus safeguards were failing all over the place, and Reya's fingers flew over her console and diagnostic equipment alongside those of Retaliatory Aider as together the two of them worked diligently to keep the unknown virus from progressing any further but it had been a difficult fight.

Sadly, the virus had already been in overall forty-five percent of Centbot's internal systems with all known anti-virus purging methods have been tried and failed. And now the virus had progressed to more than sixty percent, seventy, and eighty… "We're out of options, Reya; we have to test it now." Retaliatory Aider said to his medical comrade, and she nodded her head. Any self-respecting medical officer never used untested medical treatments on a patient – that was one of the basic principles of the profession. But for the last mega cycle the two of them had been developing a heavy-duty anti-virus program. Now was the time to see if it would work as well as they hoped.

Retaliatory Aider brought up the program initialization menu, and hit 'run'. Within astroseconds the anti-virus program was loaded into Centbot's mainframe, and Reya looked over to her friend and slowly put her smaller hand into his. Gripping tightly as her colleague monitored the status. "Okay, anti-virus program has been installed and is running. Here we go… and it's working!" Retaliatory Aider shouted in triumph, and Reya Dawnbringer just smiled. "Virus progression reduced by fifty percent, sixty, ninety; we did it! Frag, virus progression is stopped dead! Ha, take that you little…" In the middle of premature gloating, Retaliatory Aider's smirk turned to a worried frown as the virus began progressing again at an even quicker pace. "Slag, Reya, the virus is reasserting itself! The anti-virus program is collapsing!"

"What!" Reya asked, the fembot gripping Centbot's hand tighter and looking at Centbot's inactive optics. "Cent… if you can hear me for frag's sake… fight this thing. _Please._" She was almost willing to think he had heard her when Centbot's optics flashed and he began shouting. But Retaliatory Aider's words crushed her hope right then and there.

"It's into his core consciousness! I can't stop it Reya!" He shouted back at her, and she returned to her station, fingers once again moving at a blurring pace.

"What's it doing?"

"It appears to be attacking a cluster of nanotechnology ear Centbot's memory storage. Wait… fragging little… it's infecting his memory chips too – it's started to overwrite them!"

"Can we shut the memory chips down from here?" Reya asked, grimacing with frustration when Centbot's shouting hit a peak, and then abruptly stopped.

"Damn, it's too late, the virus is… gone…" Retaliatory Aider looked at his console, utterly confused. The virus had been so aggressive, so specific… and now it had just vanished. Reya Dawnbrigner was equally confused, but immediately began to run system diagnostics.

"Centbot's core conscience is active again. Slagging Hell, the virus managed to do its job though, better than three quarters of Centbot's memory is either overwritten or replaced with new connections. And whatever that nanotech was has been destroyed – completely." Reya said quickly, looking back over to Retaliatory Aider, who was thankfully back to work and not gaping.

"That's not all though. Everything from Centbot's optical systems to his power regulatory system has been altered. The virus did what it was supposed to do… it must have been programmed to self-destruct after performing its task."

"Thereby removing all evidence of its entry." Retaliatory Aider nodded to Reya Dawnbringer's words, and she slammed a balled fist on her console, calling out the vilest curse she could think of at the moment. Her gaze looked over at Centbot, noticing with guilt and embarrassment that the color of his optics had switched from the normal light blue to a crimson red. She felt Retaliatory Aider's hand on her shoulder, trying to be reassuring.

"There was nothing you could do, Reya. Whoever built this virus was smart. They had intimate knowledge of our security systems and anti-virus safeguards. We were lucky to hold it off for as long as it is." He was trying to reassure her, but his words brought her no comfort and instead only fed her outrage. "Don't you see Aider? Who else but an Autobot could have such knowledge about us and our medical technology? Isn't the execution of Maximus Prime enough, but now we have to do something like this too!" Reya's finger pointed right at Centbot, and her anger was intense.

Retaliatory Aider instinctively pulled her closer to him, and she began to break down in his arms. "Nobody deserves something like that… and what's to stop whoever did this from doing it again now that they know they have the perfect weapon to use against us?"

Retaliatory Aider didn't have an answer for that question, and he just stood there as she went on. "I mean, Centbot was supposed to be released the next orn, and then _this_? What is _wrong_ with us, Retaliatory Aider? Is this what we're becoming… a rabble of squabbling Transformers like the Decepticons used to be?"

Retaliatory Aider looked at Centbot, then, laying there on his assigned table, seemingly at peace. There was no telling what effects the viral attack had on Centbot yet, they'd have to wait until Centbot woke up to know. And if a fellow Autobot had been responsible for this he really didn't know what the point of fighting was anymore. If one Autobot could do this to another then they'd already lost everything they'd been fighting to save. "I don't know Reya… but by Primus… I hope your suspicions are not correct. May Primus forgive any Autobot capable of this kind of thing."

**Autobase - Medical Bay Alpha 022, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

'It' had remained safely behind its cloaking field, remaining unseen by the two weeping Autobot medtechs. 'It' was rather disgusted by the display, really, but now it knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virus was successfully implanted. Though it would take time for the new memories to assimilate, they would still assimilate in time. The plan was coming to fruition thanks to the quick thinking of 'It'. But now there was one last bit of nasty business to oversee.

Maximus Prime's execution was scheduled for one mega cycle from now. Just over a week from the present date. Evolution Prime must be ready for his end of the drama. Smiling as 'It' made its way through the corridors of the Autobase, heading for Evolution Prime's quarters. The door to the Medical Bay wouldn't open for what it couldn't see, but that wasn't a problem. He just simply blink displaced right outside the door and continued on his way under the stealth field he had erected around himself.

**Autobase – Quarters of Maximus Prime, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

Evolution Prime was alone in his quarters when he heard the door to his quarters swish open. Having thought he saw movement in the open doorway out of the corner on his optics, Evolution Prime immediately swung around and saw precisely nothing there. His optics quickly darted about the room, immediately suspecting something was amiss. His hi-energy laser rifle was immediately folded (a/n: 'folding' refers to how a Transformer's weapon usually appears in their hands as if summoned from thin air without any obvious holster) into hand as he swept it across the room. "Who's there… assassin?"

There was low-key laughter from the room, but Evolution Prime could not determine from where exactly. "Assassin? How amusing, dear boy… if I wanted you dead, I assure you – you'd not still be talking. As it stands, you have been without a doubt my most valuable pawn in this entire little game we've been playing."

Evolution Prime's optics narrowed. "I am nobody's pawn!"

"Really? Young one… have you grown so arrogant you cannot even see that I am obviously in possession of abilities far more powerful than your own?" The voice asked out of the very air itself, its tone amused.

"All I see is a coward unable to show himself and fight." Evolution Prime stated simply. The voice uttered a single sigh, then Evolution Prime felt a powerful surge of energy burst through his systems, paralyzing every circuit and servo in his body. He would have cried out with the pain of it, but the paralysis set in before he was able to. Evolution Prime was left with only his optics to see as 'It' dropped the cloaking field it had been using and walked up to him, leaning down so they rested optic-to-optic.

"I have fought more battles than you've been online to see, child. Lucky for you, I still need you to carry out one last duty. Don't worry though, you won't remember this meeting either." While Evolution Prime's optics widened as he came to understand the implications of that statement, 'It' reached behind Evolution Prime's cranial unit and activated the remote external shutdown switch for Evolution Prime's core consciousness. This rendered the Autobot leader inert, and allowed 'It' easy access to all of Evolution Prime's systems.

Then again, given 'It' had been primarily responsible for Evolution Prime's ascension to the Council, 'It' figured Evolution Prime owed a debt, and now 'It' was collecting. Removing the hand unit Evolution Prime used to store the energy from the sparks he had destroyed while under the influence of 'It's machinations, and thus acquiring said energies for himself, 'It' then proceeded to program the last set of instructions 'It' would give the Autobot leader before it cut the young Transformer lose to manage the mess that had been created. 'It' needed Maximus Prime out of the way, after all, and it wanted to make damn sure that the job was done right.

There could be no foul ups. This time no mistakes would be made. 'It' could not take the chance. Once it was finished, it cleaned up shop by erasing all of Evolution Prime's memory logs up until the point of 'It's arrival, then it reactivated the Autobot and hid behind its cloak once more. Upon reactivation, Evolution Prime noticed the rifle in his hands, and looked around the room, but there was nobody there. Confused but putting the matter aside for now, Evolution Prime turned to other more important matters. After all, Maximus Prime had to be disposed of, and he intended to make damn sure the job was done right this time…

**Autobase – Detention Cell 576AX, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

Maximus Prime was in his sleep cycle when the guards came for him, notifying him that he was being 'transferred to a more secure facility'. Were he not so depressed in this current moment he'd have wondered what facility could possibly be more secure than the Autobase now that Iacon had been leveled? But he was too depressed to care. There was no hope on the horizon for Maximus Prime as far as he himself was concerned.

He was dead, and part of him just wanted them to get it over with already. Little did he know, that was precisely their intention. As directed by 'It', Evolution Prime had bumped up the schedule for Maximus Prime's execution.

**Autobase - Medical Bay Alpha 022, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

'It' stood quietly beside the face of a fellow Autobot it had not seen in half a vorn. How peaceful Centbot looked now, in his state of slumber, but alas, Centbot had to get up and moving where 'It' needed him to go. This was 'Its' one chance to cement the pieces of the board to be where he needed them to be. The Decepticon agent was already en route, now all that was required for the plan to come to fruition was for Centbot to play his part.

'It' rested its palm on Centbot's forehead. The said appendage began to glow with a violet aura as it provided a direct link between the core consciousnesses of the two Autobots, once again allowing them to speak face-to-face. Well… after a fashion.

**Iacon, 1.5 Vorns Ago (approx. 124.5 Earth years)**

_The 'other' him approached from behind, but Centbot paid his opposite number little heed. Before Centbot he was watching a massive battle take place across the vast plains upon which Iacon rested. It was strange… this was not the Iacon Centbot had known, but he knew this Iacon somehow. Decepticons and Autobots were falling together by the dozen as violent exchanges of fire from both sides took its toll on the forces of both sides. When his other self stopped behind him, Centbot jutted his chin over towards the center of the city, towards Iacon's sprawling spaceport._

"Watch… this is my favorite part." _Centbot said quietly, and both of them together watched as an Autobot evacuation shuttle tried to lift off from their doomed city. It did not get a hundred meters into the air before swarms of Decepticon seekers converged on the shuttle's engines and destroyed them. The shuttle quickly slowed its ascent, stalled, then crashed back into the city with devastating consequences as it exploded on impact. The nuclear fireball expanded rapidly, its mushroom cloud shape giving a sort of comical cover to the fact that many thousand of lives had perished in that one instant. _

_The Decepticon seekers then reformed their ranks and began to repeat the process as several more Autobot shuttles tried to leave their doomed city behind. One by one, however, they all met the same fate as the first. This was the fateful result of the first siege of Iacon… the battle they had all somehow forgotten. _

"How could we have forgotten all this?" _Centbot asked no one in particular, and the other Cent answered. _

"You haven't forgotten this of your own accord. You were made to forget by a traitor… a traitor who even now seeks to destroy our people."

_Centbot looked at the other Cent skeptically. _"The odds of him ever showing his face again are…"

"… Significantly improved once you've all forgotten who he is, aren't they?"

_Centbot had to think over that one for a moment. He had a feeling he knew who the other Cent was referring to… but somehow that didn't feel quite right. Still… however did this needed to pay. He'd see to that personally. _"Who betrayed us?"

_The other Cent shook his head. _"I'm afraid even my memories do not stretch that far. I am only your guide, I do not have all of the answers. But I can tell you who might be able to help you get the answers you seek."

"Who?"

_The other Cent smiled. _"Why Maximus Prime, of course. He's the only one we can trust, you know."

"Maximus Prime… but he's to be…"

"Executed?"

_Centbot lowered his gaze, ashamed to admit it. _"Yeah. But his execution's not for another week, so I can talk to him."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that."

_Centbot's gaze came right back up._ "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that Evolution Prime has collaborated with Decepticons. One of them is in Iacon right now, ready to execute Maximus Prime for firing The Array. Evolution Prime is pretending to be moving Maximus Prime to a more secure facility so nobody will know about the attack until it is already done." _The other Cent said, resisting the urge to laugh joyfully as Centbot's expression twisted about to express pure rage. _"Yes Centbot, my friend. But it gets worse – your feelings were accurate. Maximus Prime is innocent of the crime. Evolution Prime is the traitor who destroyed the city. His goal no less is to start this…" _The other Cent pointed behind him, where the First Siege of Iacon continued to play out to its fateful conclusion, _"… all over again."

_Centbot took a few steps backwards, shaking his head, his mind clouded by anger. _"How can he… start this… innocent?" _He looked over to the quite calm and collected Cent standing next to him. _"Can you prove this? Evolution Prime's guilt I mean? I need to be sure…"

_The other Cent nodded his head, smiling genuinely. It had precisely as he'd predicted. The plan had come full circle. He reached out his left hand for Centbot to take._ "Take my hand, old friend. And when I show you what I know, you'll never doubt it again. And you'll know what you have to do."

_For several astroseconds, Centbot stared at the proffered hand, then he took it in his own right hand. Their fingers curled around one another, and their hands glowed a violet color as memories and information flooded into Centbot's memory, showing him everything the other Cent wanted him to see. When it was over, Centbot's hand shot out of the other Cent's grasp and he backpedaled as if he'd been physically struck. _

"No… that can't _be_!" _Centbot shouted, slashing his fist into the empty air surrounding them. The other Cent just smiled and watched his old friend suffer from the truth. True some of the facts were spun to suits 'It's agenda, but not one iota of it was false. Everything Centbot had seen had really happened. Now all Centbot had to do was decide what he was going to do about it. And decide he did._

**Autobase – Rooftop Hangar Deck, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

Knightbird glided gently to the deck of the Autobase's main hangar bay. Careful to avoid the security traps, she quickly found a position she could hide behind as she planned out the route she'd use to get inside. If the information she had received was correct, then this was where her target would show up. She couldn't believe how easy it was to get inside the Autobase, but that just made it easier for her as she quickly bypassed their security grid using the information provided and quickly made her way down to the detention levels.

Whoever her target was… he or she wouldn't be alive for much longer.

**Autobase – Outside Detention Block Security Post Aleph 1, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

White Knight joined Mindtrick, Sharpwing, and Iron Blue as the security escort for Maximus Prime as they began to wander closer to the drop off point for their charge – their former leader turned traitor. Iron Blue, at the head of the pack, grimaced at how far Maximus Prime had fallen, and personally he detested his orders. But he was loyal to the chain of command. Evolution Prime was their leader now, and his orders were those of a superior officer – never to be disobeyed.

Mindtrick was rather glad to still be alive after his last experience with that intruder, and now that his spark was restored he had been returned to duty only to get stuck back on prison duty. Sharpwing bristled a bit at this assignment, but he took his job seriously. White Knight, the most physically massive member of their group, stayed absolutely quiet. None of them really believed that Maximus Prime was guilty of the crimes he was accused of - it was too out of character. But their leader had been put through the Tribunal and pronounced guilty.

All of them save perhaps Mindtrick knew the value of keeping the command structure intact. When you were given an order, you carried it out no matter how much you may object to it. And so, they were here, escorting their former leader to his transport which would take him to the new location. Sadly though, they were honestly unaware of the machinations of other forces in Iacon, and so weren't expecting the arrival of Knightbird on the scene.

Though she personally detested such tactics, she knew she had to even the odds she was facing here. Thus the stun grenade the Decepticon femme rolled down the corridor to greet the Autobots. They all saw it coming, and they all knew it was already too late when it went off, blinding them all. Knightbird emerged then, much to the surprise of Maximus Prime, who had been behind White Knight and thus was spared the blindness the stun grenade afflicted the others with.

Before she advanced on Maximus Prime, Knightbird used a stolen lightning rifle to fry the circuits of all the escorting Autobots, causing them to drop twitching to the deck. Knightbird thrusted the tip of her sword at Maximus Prime's neck, using it to lift up his gaze to meet hers. "So… it was you who murdered your own people, Maximus Prime. And here I thought you had honor."

Maximus Prime rolled his optics. "And here I thought you had come to dispose of me. If you are, do it already."

Knightbird pursed her mechanical lips. "That eager to die are you?"

Maximus Prime looked at her with pleading eyes. "I'm dead anyway."

Knightbird snarled in obvious anger at those words. This pathetic mockery of a Prime wouldn't even defend himself. She had hoped that a Prime of all people would be willing to fight on, not give up and surrender. "You're pathetic… you coward. No Prime would act this way!"

Maximus Prime laughed. "And no Decepticon would have waited this long to kill me either."

Knightbird's optics narrowed as she raised her blade over her head, ready to bring it down and end this. "Fine then, coward, have it your way!" In some way, she was hoping her blow would be stopped. She got her wish when several meters down the corridor, a section of the corridor exploded inwards – blow up from the outside. Both Autobot and Decepticon turned to face the new arrival, and Knightbird grimaced as she realized who it was. Maximus Prime was slightly dazed, so realization took a little longer to dawn on him.

"Centbot?" Maximus Prime asked as Centbot emerged from the smoke cloud, his plasma shell machinegun leveled at Knightbird's head.

"Back off Decepticon." Was the simple demand from the Autobot, and the femme just scoffed.

"Do you really expect me to give up?" Knightbird asked, ready to spring into action, relieved to be getting a fight out of this.

"Not at all." Centbot said simply as he pulled the trigger and his machinegun unloaded a stream of scarlet-colored projectiles at Knightbird, who immediately went evasive as she charged at Centbot, using her wings in robot mode to pull off some simple acrobatic stunts that kept her from taking too many hits on her way to advance on Centbot. Finally, when she was close enough, she hit the ground with her hands first, using them to flip over Centbot's head as he tried to track his aim to hit her while she was on the ground.

Centbot's fire missed low, and Knightbird gracefully glided through the air above Centbot's head as she moved behind him and targeted his back. She hurled her sword at his back just as he pulled free his second machinegun and completed a turn to fire at her. Her sword plunged into Centbot's firing arm, disabling the limb, but Centbot's other weapon came up, and Knightbird was clear in the open this time. His weapon sounded off for a few solid seconds of brutal bombardment, and Knightbird's damaged frame was sent crashing into the far wall of the corridor.

The Decepticon femme was damaged, but not crippled. Centbot quickly ran over to Maximus Prime who was looking at him in shock. "Why are you trying to save me?" He demanded, and Centbot just glared at him.

"Because I for one know you're not guilty." Then Centbot transformed into his truck vehicle mode and dropped the back end of his truck bed for Maximus Prime to climb into. "Get in."

Maximus Prime stood up, and quickly jumped onto Centbot. "Do you have proof of my innocence?" He asked as Centbot's tires squealed, and he began to burn rubber through the corridors of the Autobase, heading for the nearest exit.

"Not yet, but I know where to go for it. But first we have to get out of here." Centbot said, wheeling around corners and skidding everywhere. His frame was getting dented as the arm Knightbird had disabled was supporting one of Centbot's tires, making his control extremely poor as he drove. But he pressed on, and eventually to the shock of many Autobots outside the Autobase, they made it outside and into the streets, where Centbot quickly changed course and headed outside the city.

Maximus Prime pounded on Centbot's cab to get his attention. "You know by freeing me, you could very well have begun a civil war back home."

Centbot thought on that for a moment, then finally said something. "It's better than letting that fraud and traitor Evolution Prime stay on as leader of our people. A Civil War, Maximus Prime, may in the end be unavoidable." The two of them remained silent as Centbot tore through the debris-clogged streets of Iacon, the two of them considering carefully the ramifications of what they had just done, but Centbot had other reasons. Memories… facts of his own past were beginning to emerge. His entire attitude was beginning to change and he needed to find out why.

The both of them were in search of the truth of the past, and it could even be said that their lives depended on finding out and exposing the truth.

**Autobase – Command Center, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

"WHAT!" Evolution Prime shouted into the comm. Station, not believing what he was hearing. "A Decepticon infiltrated the Autobase, AND Centbot fragging freed Maximus Prime? How could you allow this to happen? You know what, never mind, your excuses don't matter. You're back on cleanup detail as of the next orn, understood?" Then Evolution Prime cut the comm. line with the Autobot in charge of the detention cell security.

He walked into the middle of the room, and shouted loudly to vent his anger. To make it worse, the Decepticon had escaped too, and now he had three fugitives possibly running around _his_ city. This was unacceptable, and Centbot would not come out of this unscathed. He established a line with the Autobase mainframe and began drafting an announcement which stated that effective immediately, both Maximus Prime and Centbot were considered to be defectors and traitors – and they were to be killed on sight.

**Iacon Airspace – Northern Sector, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

Knightbird cursed as she flew through the air slowly, nursing the slight wounds from the battle earlier. Centbot's arrival had been unexpected, and she was lucky to have made impact with her blade, which had a homing device she could track embedded in its hilt. They'd probably dispose of it as soon as possible, but it would give her a direction in which to focus her search for her quarry.

Knightbird was unaccustomed to failing her assignments. She did not intend to find out what it felt like to be chastised for failure anytime soon either.

**Agorahex Catacombs – Virsago's Lab, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

'It' slowly walked into the lair it called its home. Things had gone perfectly so far, and 'It' could only hope things continued to go well. Now that the first phase of the plan was completed, it was time to move into phase two, and thusly there was no longer any reason to hide its identity. It walked past a console near the wall to 'It's sleeping chamber, on which there was a monitoring system. On its readout was a single name: Virsago.

Virsago's dreams this night were dreams of retribution, of fulfillment of his destiny. Soon enough, he'd face Centbot for the final time, but before that Decatron and Gore would be coming for him and the other Autobots. For that he must prepare. That, however, was for the future. Tonight, Virsago slept soundly, knowing now that nothing could stand in his way anymore. Soon his enemies would fall, the Autobots would be embroiled in a bitter civil war, and the Decepticons would all unite under Virsago's banner at last.

Yes… all in all, this was a night for Virsago to celebrate indeed.


	5. Chapter 4

**The Irradiated Fields, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

Maximus Prime had transformed into his own vehicle mode now, and was driving alongside Centbot. Now that Knightbird's sword had been removed from his limb and some hasty repairs made, Centbot was able to drive himself adequately again, and Centbot had gotten them back on course for Agorahex. Though he wouldn't say why they were going to that accursed place, Maximus Prime right now had no choice but to trust Centbot's judgment. After all, were it not for Centbot, he wouldn't be alive right now.

His scanners were active though, wary for any traps that might be waiting for them. He had been ready to die not so long ago, but now that he had been spared, Maximus Prime had found renewed purpose to live. He had to find the truth about his own past; he needed to know if he really did fire The Array. Every part of him denied the possibility of him firing off that damn thing – but feelings were one thing. He needed proof of his innocence before he could face his fellow Autobots again.

Centbot too, needed to know something. He was beginning to remember names, faces, and facts about a world that no longer existed. And a long-buried anger had begun to rise up in him, an anger that extended beyond simple mistrust and loathing and had crossed the line to full-on desire for devastation. Such anger in himself scared him, and he too needed to find out the truth – he needed to know why he had so much anger. He needed the truth, and if the other Cent had been right, there was only one place he could find it.

Together, the two rogue Autobots had to find the Oracle. Only it would have access to what they sought – the truth. They needed its ability to see beyond the veil of darkness that seemed to cover their eyes. It was truly their last shot at proving their innocence and their sanity. The Irradiated Plains marked the borders of Agorahex, the accursed city so full of radiation that no Transformer dared venture near to it. They wouldn't have much time to finish their search, which was why they wasted no time on their approach.

Dust billowed out from behind their tires as two Autobots raced as fast as their wheels and engines would carry them towards their destination and the truth they so hungrily sought.

**Agorahex Catacombs – Virsago's Lair, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

"My, my… it hasn't even been an orn yet and they're already in the area. They have to be low on energon by now in order to have covered so much terrain in so little time. I'm actually sort of pleased by this unexpected twist of events." Virsago said to himself as he watched the transmission from an orbiting probe that he'd assigned to track the two Autobots ever since they had left Iacon.

Now it was true they'd refueled once in their relatively long journey, but even so this trip had to be taxing on their energon reserves. By the time they would find the Oracle… they'd be exhausted. Virsago found that turn of events to be just perfect. He looked back to one of his Transmetal creations. "Oh, Cerewolf?" He called behind him in a sing-song voice, prompting a response from the Transmetal Autobot creation.

"Yes, Virsago?" They asked, Cerewolf's three heads (and thus three distinct voices) asked in unison. Though Cerewolf took on the form of the legendary Cerberus, it was in actuality a Fuzor – the combination of three other Transformer types fused together to create a new and distinct Transformer. Having three Autobots in one form didn't have all the advantages you'd think, but Virsago was pleased to note that eventually his Cerewolf had found a way to reconcile the differences it had with its component parts and become an excellent servant.

"Follow them, track them as quietly as you can until they find the Oracle and bring down its defenses. Do _not_ underestimate their skill – neither of them is to be underestimated. Especially when once they have found the Oracle, you strike and kill them both. Do I make myself clear?" Virsago asked; his lowered tone of voice communicating to them the punishment for failure would be death.

"Perfectly." Cerewolf replied before turning around and running out of one of the exits from Virsago's Lair. The Trasnmetal Autobots had Virsago's complete faith, but just to tilt the odds in his favor Virsago turned to his other loyal servant. "Mimicry, come here. You have a special mission this orn."

**Outskirts of Iacon – Autobot Hunting Party, 2nd Vorn, Iacon**

When Evolution Prime had said Centbot wasn't getting away with his betrayal, he'd meant it. His anger was palpable, and for a time no Autobot in Iacon dared speak out in support of Centbot's actions for fear of his retribution being turned against them. Besides, not all Autobots supported Centbot's actions anyway. The trial of Maximus Prime had been perfectly legal, and Centbot's actions disrespected the Code which all Autobots lived by. Plenty of Autobots sat on Evolution Prime's side of the fence, and even those who didn't still go along with him anyway out of fear.

But fear did not garner loyalty – it only brewed resentment. Evolution Prime was aware of this, which was why he'd gathered a group of Autobots together to bring back the traitors – alive or dead. His orders to kill them on sight were very much still in effect, but he'd modified them to attempt capture first and if that failed to use force. The few public outcries died out then, and Evolution Prime knew he'd solved his first major problem for a short while.

Now he had a pair of traitors to bring back to Iacon to face punishment. Behind Evolution Prime were Iron Chef Energon, Optimal Retaliation, Armourhide, Windracer, Thanos, Iron Blue, Nova Strike, Rebs, Sharpwing, Mindtrick, White Knight, Bubbatron, and Spidertron. Some of them rolled on wheels or feet; others flew in the air. But all of them followed Evolution Prime's lead as he followed the signal of the Autobot's own tracking device.

During the attempted assassination, Knightbird had used a lightning rifle to disable the guards (and the lot of them had a bone to pick with the femcon over that, rest assured) but Mindtrick had managed to plant a tracer before going offline. And so they were following Knightbird as Knightbird pursued Centbot and Maximus Prime.

Of course, they had no real idea that Knightbird was following the two of them, but Evolution Prime had a hunch, and he had to follow that hunch. It was sort of the only lead he had as to their location right now, embarrassingly enough.

**The Hunting Party Camp, 2nd Vorn, Seibertron**

Many cycles later, Optimal Retaliation was at the center of the pack, refusing to think about much of anything right now. They had taken a break to refuel and rest, as Knightbird's tracking device showed she was not moving for the moment either. He noticed to his extreme annoyance the other Autobots were shooting sideways glances at him, and every time he caught them doing it he'd shoot them with his hardest and most vicious stare. When he did, they'd always turn away, properly shamed.

Optimal Retaliation knew why they stared, knew the question they devoutly wanted to ask and had not the guts to ask. _Why would Cent do this?_ Optimal Retaliation thought to himself, asking himself the question he knew they wanted to ask him. And if he had an answer, he'd give them one. But he didn't have one. Last time he checked, Centbot was supposed to be in a fragging medical table recovering from a viral attack, not busting convicted traitors from jail and running off towards the one place not even the Decepticons dared venture.

But in typical Centbot style, the Autobot went off and did the last thing anybody had ever thought he'd do. Run away, forsaking the oath they'd all taken to uphold the Code and defend their people. That's what Centbot had done, and that's what angered Optimal Retaliation so much. It made no _sense_ for Centbot to be doing this, and Optimal Retaliation just hoped that Centbot was under the influence of that virus, and wasn't doing this rationally.

Instead of being left alone to his thoughts, however, Bubbatron came over and asked the one question nobody else would dare ask Optimal Retaliation (thus making Bubbatron the only one foolish enough to do so by default) "So uhh… what's up with Centbot running away with the traitor dude?"

Optimal Retaliation's natural urge to run Bubbatron's head through the nearest wall was quickly suppressed. "Your guess is as good as mine, Bubbatron. And why haven't you passed out yet?"

Bubbatron shot up to a standing position, or rather what to Bubbatron looked like a standing position but to everyone one else looked suspiciously like the stumbling pantomime of an energon beer junkie pretending to be sober – complete with the energon beverage supplied by Iron Chef Energon in hand. "Whazzat? I'll have you know I haven't so much as passed out from one measly beer in a deca cycle. Do I look like I'm about to pass out to you?" The slurred speech of Bubbatron, combined with the fact that his optics were only half-lit and he was swaying all over the place (in addition to reeking of much more than one energon beer) pretty much answered Bubbatron's question for him.

Naturally, he was oblivious to all this, and Optimal Retaliation looked over to Iron Chef Energon. "You spiked his beer, didn't you?"

Iron Chef Energon merely shrugged his shoulders. "That's one more recipe down. I thought stimulants might drain him of energy quicker and make him tired sooner. Apparently I need to go back to formula."

Nova Strike, his own energon beer three quarters of the way empty, spoke up in protest. "Nuh-uh! That's got to be at least four hundred different variations of formulas you've tried on him. Let's face it – he's nuts. Always has been, always will be." Nova Strike looked at the newest brew Iron Chef Energon had come up with. "And besides, I haven't gotten a buzz out of beer for a long time; at least this stuff has some kick."

"Bezzidess… "Sharpwing added his current beverage and three empty beer flasks rolling on the ground already drained of their contents rolling along the ground, "… I like thiz stuff ICE. We just don't have to give tubby any."

Bubbatron wheeled around on Sharpwing without a second thought. "_Tubby_? Why you freaking freedom fighter, I'll shove that 'Tubby' down your – oomph!" Bubbatron advanced a step on Sharpwing and moved to take a second, but Iron Blue stuck out his foot and tripped up the Ineptibot. Given Bubbatron was already swaying everywhere; this sent him down to the ground in a perfect face plant. Iron Blue pointed to Bubbatron's backside as the Ineptibot tried and failed to pry his face out of the pile of loose debris it had fallen into.

"That settles it, no more beer for him," Iron Blue shifted his finger to point at Sharpwing, "Or him. Got it, ICE?" Iron Blue asked, moving to help pry Bubbatron out of the ground afterwards. Iron Chef Energon just sighed, and Sharpwing looked shocked and immediately grabbed another beer and hugged it to his torso protectively.

"The beer iz mine! None shall zteal it from my grazp!" Sharpwing vowed; only to have to watch as in one shift motion Nova Strike reached over, snagged the beverage right out of Sharpwing's grasp, and downed its contents in one fell pull from the bottle. Sharpwing gaped and fumed under his breath as Nova Strike turned to Iron Blue. "Sorry, Blue, but I outrank you and I say the stuff stays."

Iron Blue crossed his arms. "Wanna bet, Nova Strike?"

Nova Strike looked at Iron Blue as if he was a parent scolding a child. "Didn't they teach you in primary school never to bet when drunk?"

"You are not drunk." Iron Blue shot back.

"We're _all_ drunk." Rebs interjected, and he watched as Iron Blue finally pried Bubbatron out of the ground. The Ineptibot quickly folded over on his back, hitting his head hard on the ground. His optics went out, and Rebs moved over to drag Bubbatron into a less exposed position so he'd be out of the way. "And I agree with Iron Blue – no getting drunk on duty."

Iron Blue smiled at Rebs. "Why thank you."

Nova Strike scoffed, rolling his optics. "Spoilsport."

Sharpwing looked over Nova Strike, pouting a bit. "You owe me a beer."

Nova Strike dismissed Sharpwing's statement with a wave of his hand. "Haven't you been listening? You're not allowed to drink on duty." Nova Strike then finished off his original beer from earlier as that comment set off another round of petty squabbling which Optimal Retaliation tuned out as he stood up and walked away. He moved off to a location where he could no longer hear the others, enjoying the solitude for a moment to think.

He looked at the energon beer – unopened – in his hand and ultimately decided to just toss it. He never was much of an Autobot for drinking. And now really didn't seem the time for it. Too much was going on, and now that they were beyond the confines of the city, the odds of running into Decepticons became a distinct possibility. He looked out across the desolate and debris-strewn ruins in which they had made their base camp. Like most of Seibertron, the long-standing civil war between the two Transformer races had left a planet once covered in cities and great architectural works little more than a vast plain of ruined cityscapes.

There was hardly a corner of the planet left untouched by their conflict, and there were times like these Optimal Retaliation questioned the need to keep fighting. The need to fight on until the last against the Decepticons instead of just leaving this damned planet and this equally damned war behind. "A penny for your thoughts?" Windracer asked suddenly from beside Optimal Retaliation, and he was surprised by her sudden entrance – yet he did not jump.

"Ah, you know Windy… the usual." Optimal Retaliation said quickly. "I'm just trying not to think about anything."

Windracer seemed to be confused about this. The somewhat slender yet attractive fembot was still in her dragon animal form, and for some reason she just disliked her robot form. But, it was a personality quirk Optimal Retaliation and all those who knew her grew accustomed to. "Why not, Optimal? You're always being the amateur philosopher, so for you to try not to think about something is very strange."

Optimal Retaliation scoffed. "Let me respond to your question with another question then: why do you always stay in your alternate form?"

Windracer's eyes widened and her mouth/snout worked for a few moments before speaking again. "I don't know, I just don't really like being in robot mode. It makes me uncomfortable."

Optimal Retaliation nodded, looking over at her for just a moment before turning back to the horizon in the darkening sky. "And it's the same with me and thinking about current events. They make me immensely angry, for more reasons than one."

Windracer sighed. "Why do you do that?"

Optimal Retaliation sighed too. "Do what?"

"Be so standoffish. Especially when you know people are only trying to help."

Optimal Retaliation turned back to Windracer, smiling a bit at her before walking past her. On his way past, he spoke, letting his words trail behind him. "Because nobody can tell me anything other than what I already know about. Therefore, they're not helping, just reminding me of the problem."

Windracer just turned her head around to look at his back as he walked off to be alone again. She sighed, muttering under her breath about how much of a stubborn jerk he can be on occasion. Armourhide walked up beside Windracer, looking between the retreating backside of Optimal Retaliation and Windracer. "What's with the walking and the long faces?" Armourhide asked; being rather blunt and honest as he usually was.

"Nothing, Armourhide, I'm just trying to talk with Optimal again to see how he's handling the mission." Windracer said sadly, perhaps even a bit _too_ sadly.

"Oh, that again. I thought you'd given up on trying to get Optimal Retaliation to open up when he's frustrated. You know he's not going to say anything until he's done buried it real deep." Armourhide said, trying to be both blunt and humorous, but Windracer missed the joke.

"His suppressing everything is the problem, Armourhide. He's a lot like Centbot… and given recent events, I'm worried about him." Windracer admitted, lowering her head as if the admission was shameful.

"Wait a minute… you don't think Optimal's going to turn traitor on us, do you?"

Windracer's head drooped a bit lower. "I'm just… not sure. How can I be when he says nothing about what he was thinking? Like Centbot did before he got infected with the virus, then _bam_, Cent's a traitor. How do we know he's not going to get hit with a virus too and go nuts?"

Armourhide didn't know how to answer that at first, but finally he did come to an answer several cycles later. "We can't go around making wild assumptions bout our friends, Windracer. And Optimal wouldn't betray us, you know that."

Windracer glared at Armourhide. "Just like we were supposed to know Centbot would never turn on us?"

Armourhide shrugged. "We don't know if he has. Yet. And until we know for a fact either of them are traitors, we can't dwell on what might be. There's no point to it."

Windracer didn't say anything more to Armourhide, and as Windracer just stared into nothing, thinking, Armourhide just stood there as well, trying to find where Optimal Retaliation had gone off to. Evolution Prime had ordered them to rest up, they'd move again at daybreak. He made sure to inform her of Evolution Prime's orders, and then he wandered off, having spotted Optimal Retaliation.

**The Hunting Party Camp, 2nd Vorn, Seibertron**

Spidertron casually pulled free a transmission device and activated it. The same sort of device used by Decepticon spies and scouts, it had a limited range, but if his handler had provided correct information then he should be in range of his arranged contact. He quickly encrypted a report on the recent developments and sent the message. A chirp from the device quickly confirmed his message was sent, and then he looked around again, making sure no one else was around.

Seeing the coast was clear, he put away the transmitter, and joined the other Autobots at the camp. If all went well, the Tripedicus Council would reward him greatly for this one…

**Some Super-Secret Location, 2nd Vorn, Some Super-Secret Part of Seibertron**

Galvatron Prime looked over the report his little Autobot spy had sent him. It was quite interesting really. The Autobots were marching after Knightbird, who was marching after Maximus Prime. Maximus Prime, in turn, was marching behind Centbot's lead, this he knew because Knightbird had sent him her report a little while ago. It seemed everybody was chasing those two Autobots, and now that they were rogue, it seemed now was the opportune time for him to find out what Decatron and Gore was hiding from him.

He contacted Decepticon headquarters back in Polyhex. "Contact Wreck 'n Rule and have him wake up the team. We have a hunt to join. Tell him he has one orn to get to Agorahex, or else next time I see him he's going to have a sudden and rather violent encounter with my fusion cannon." Galvatron Prime cut the link, and then he quickly flew off into the air in pursuit of his prey. He just hoped Knightbird didn't steal all the fun before he could get there.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hitting the Skies, 2nd Vorn, Polyhex**

Starscream SB, Dust 'N Bones, Baellax, Roadspite, Xarkon, Smite, Cyber Meth, Deadwood, Fatality, Wreck 'n Rule, Dark Ops, Bloodlust, and Brutallica had assembled in one of the many launching pads dotted throughout Polyhex, making ready to depart on their mission. It wasn't going quite that well for the assembled group of Decepticons. Though Galvatron Prime had instructed Wreck 'n Rule to lead the team to Agorahex, the Decepticon ended up taking a sidebar role as Starscream SB by virtue of his instinctive need to always be 'superior' to everyone else took command.

Or at least tried to take command, but there was hardly a Decepticon in the lot of them who had the patience to listen to Starscream SB's self-centered and egomaniacal rants. The lot of them was either clinically insane, xenophobic, or simply hated any and all forms of mechanical life – teammates included. Though their skills and combat prowess were nearly unmatched, these Decepticons personified the problem with Decepticon society as a whole – they just couldn't work well together at all. Especially not with an arrogant and utterly overconfident Starscream SB trying to pass himself off as a leader of merit.

"All right, Decepticons, let's move out!" Starscream SB shouted, waving his hand forward as he transformed into his seeker alternate mode and took to the air. Nobody followed him just yet though. Xarkon transformed into his cephalopod alternate mode, then quickly took to the skies as well, bumping Roadspite out of the way. Angered and swearing all the way, Roadspite took to the skies in robot mode, and one-by-one the others followed. Smite, being the most certifiably insane member of the party, took the opportunity to ease the voices inside his head by saying that they'd be able to kill soon enough.

The other Decepticons made a point to go the opposite direction of wherever Starscream SB went, enjoying ignoring the arrogant prick every time he tried to order them to get back into position. But they had a timetable to follow, and when Wreck 'n Rule (the leader they respected enough to follow) chased after Starscream SB, the others followed suit, making a beeline for Agorahex. There they had to meet up with Galvatron Prime to make preparations for their attack on the Autobots gathered in the city.

**In pursuit of MP, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

Cerewolf leapt from building to building inside of Agorahex, following the rooftops so that his targets down below would not notice his pursuit. Agorahex had once been a beautiful city, but as with almost every last city on the planet it had been leveled in the civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Not even Virsago, however, knew the how or the why of Agorahex's destruction. This suggested that perhaps; the destruction of this city predated the Dark History itself.

Cerewolf very rarely paid attention to such details, but that was one thought everybody paid attention to. Especially Cerewolf, as it cemented the reasons why he –err _they_- served Virsago as minions. It was more than just because he was their creator – he aimed to end the 'Great War' once and for all. Agorahex's sprawling mass was once filled with skyscrapers – impressive testaments to the architectural skills of the Transformers. The city also had design elements from both Autobot and Decepticon styles of design, which to Cerewolf was further proof of Virsago's assertion that at one time the Transformers had lived together in peace.

Furthermore, Virsago believed that this radiation-infested, burned out and bombed city had once existed as the capital city for their entire world. What had once been the home of all had become the first battlefield. There was no generator for the radiation, Virsago had discovered. Whatever weapons had done this simply had this great of fallout. The disaster which befell Agorahex was simply dreadful, and Cerewolf wanted it to end. Virsago had a plan, and Cerewolf would do what they must to end this foolish war before their world became a ghost planet.

Centbot and Maximus Prime were turning down a series of long, winding S-curves that Maximus Prime had to ditch his trailer to get through. If Virsago was right, Centbot would be the key to it all. Their master would not tell them why, only saying that what Centbot possessed within him was something of great power and importance to the future. That traitor had stolen something from the people that Virsago desperately needed, and had helped seal away the Oracle, preventing anyone from ever using its knowledge again.

But now that Centbot and Maximus Prime were on their way to the Oracle, Centbot would have to use his slowly uncoiling memories to drop the defenses he had placed around the Oracle, which would be Cerewolf's moment to strike. Without Maximus Prime and his connection to Fortress Maximus, Centbot should not be much of a concern for their plans. And once they had access to the Oracle gain, its knowledge could be put to use for their own ends. But Cerewolf could tell that Virsago was trying to hide something from them – there was animosity between the two Autobots.

Whatever it was that Centbot had done in the past, Virsago wanted Centbot to suffer for it, and if Centbot had any part in perpetuating the Great War, then Cerewolf would gladly help the traitor suffer. After all, no Autobot should hope for war, right? It was a pity though, that Cerewolf had not known that in a strange way his thoughts echoed Centbot's own, so long ago… they both knew that no Autobot would ever want a war. The shame of it would be too much for them to bear (a/n: Remember this line, it becomes very important in the following chapters)…

Cerewolf continued to track the two Autobots as they moved together towards the massive tower that was their destination – the Central Archive of Agorahex. The one place all ultimately began their search for the truth. Virsago had discovered his true purpose here, and soon enough, Centbot and Maximus Prime would find what they sought here too. In their own ways, each of their searches for the truth was leading them to one final place – this place. Here in the Central Archive of Agorahex all the Archived information from every city was stored – making it the only place not affected by the Dark History. The only place you could find the truth.

**Central Archives of Agorahex, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

Centbot rolled to a stop near the front entrance to the Archives, staring up at it in slight awe. It truly almost stretched to the stars. Switching over from his Ford F-150 truck vehicle form to his robot mode, he waited for the tell-tale thud that showed Maximus Prime had transformed into his robot mode as well. He looked back at Maximus Prime for the final time. "This is our destination, MP. Once we go in, there's no going back. You ready for whatever the truth may be?"

Maximus Prime drew in a deep breath, steeling himself for what was about to come. "Whatever happens will be just Prime. Let's move out."

Centbot nodded his head, and he walked up a small landing to a flight of stairs leading to the entrance. Maximus Prime fell into step behind him, and looked oddly at Centbot when he stopped suddenly in front of the entrance and stepped aside. "Cent… what are you doing?"

Centbot smiled. "According to my sources, only a Prime may access information on the Oracle – no other set of optics can find it. Therefore, you go on ahead, I'll wait outside."

Maximus Prime grimaced, not at all liking what he heard. "Centbot… you were the one all fired up about finding the truth… and now you don't even want to come inside?"

Centbot's hands clenched visibly, betraying the frustration he was trying to hide. "I can't go in, Maximus Prime. Somebody needs to stay outside, make sure you have enough time to work and get to the Oracle."

Maximus Prime's left optic lifted up. "And you can't do that from inside because…?"

Centbot's glare silenced Maximus Prime from saying anything more. But when Maximus Prime didn't move again, he knew he had to say something. So Centbot said something. "I've began to remember things, MP. Flashes of images, faces, memories even. Of this place, of myself… you… but we're all different. Not just older, but literally designed differently, but somehow I still know that the people I see are _us_." Centbot's gaze lowered to the ground. "And every time I see those faces, I feel a deep, overpowering anger began to gnaw at the back of my core conscience. And not just at Decepticons either… but at Autobots too. I feel like I've done something terrible, like I've been forced to do something I never wanted to do and that I resent so much but I don't know what."

He looked back up at Maximus Prime. "And I have to know why, MP. I have to know what happened, but that's why I saved you. I believe in your innocence, but I needed your help to find the truth too. The Oracle will speak to no one else but a Prime."

Maximus Prime took a while to process all that he'd been told, looking at Centbot, who was leaning back against the wall his optics dark. Maximus Prime was no stranger to feelings of anger, especially given recent developments. But what Centbot was saying struck a chord in Maximus Prime, and now he understood to some extent the trauma of the last few orns for them all. Centbot had told him of the virus attack, the dreams, the visions… and now he understood that the two of them were practically walking down the same path.

Centbot wasn't just confused about the fact he couldn't remember something vitally important – he also hated himself for it. For not being able to remember and understand what was happening to him. Why what he'd done or didn't do could provoke such strong feelings when he couldn't even remember what he'd _done_. Maximus Prime could almost begin to think that if the mystical Matrix did exist, it had put the two of them on this path together for a reason. The fear that they had done something that completely went against their beliefs – and the thought that they _could_ go against their beliefs was something neither of them could face. Such a thought would make anybody angry, especially when it brought into question of when push came to shove – how far could they fall?

Maximus Prime planted his comparatively small hand on Centbot's broad shoulder. "I understand Cent, hold down the fort. It shouldn't be long before I get to the answers."

Smiling gratefully, Centbot nodded his assent and gently removed Maximus Prime's arm from his shoulder. "I'm holding you to that, you know."

With that exchange though, Maximus Prime went off into the entrance to the Central Archives of Agorahex – and Centbot watched him disappear into the dark depths. That's when she spoke up. "So, we meet again… traitor."

**Outskirts of the city, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

"Come on, damnit! Roll those tires; we have to catch up to those traitors!" Evolution Prime shouted over the communications line he had open with the other Autobots in his little hunting party. When they'd emerged from their sleep cycles earlier this morning, they'd found Optimal Retaliation was missing. Quickly aerial recon by Windracer confirmed Evolution Prime's worst fears – Optimal Retaliation was heading straight for Agorahex.

Evolution Prime could only surmise that Optimal Retaliation had thrown his allegiance behind Maximus Prime, and _that_ had finally managed to provoke Evolution Prime's wrath and his next set of orders back in Iacon. He would not tolerate any more betrayal this orn. Nor would he tolerate further insurrection at any other time. This insanity had to be stopped, here and now.

No one else in the party said a single thing… they knew what was coming. And all of them feared what that might mean.

**Rendezvous Point, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

Galvatron Prime tapped his foot impatiently as the final astroseconds on his chronometer ticked away… but finally, he heard them landing with a loud series of concussive crashes around him – his fellow Decepticons. Though their teamwork was non-existent, their power more than made up for this. So did their endurance. Their armor gave them the best chance of sustaining their endurance in the radiation fields of Agorahex, which quickly sapped functionality from even the strongest of Decepticons.

Galvatron Prime knew this fight would have to be over as soon as possible, hence the Decepticons he had gathered here. There was Starscream SB, the arrogant, foolhardy Decepticon who fancied himself both a genius and having a birthright to rule over all. His arrogance was almost unfounded, but his skills as a warrior and seeker both were undoubted by any around him. Thin, slender, with that regal air about him that either made you respect him or seek his immediate death… Starscream SB had his head stuck up in the clouds but was a solid warrior.

Dust 'N Bones was your typical rebellious Decepticon. Arrogant as was Starscream SB, but whereas Starscream SB respected the power of the Tripedicus Council, Dust N' Bones did not. He felt all of his leaders were idiots, and so he had been given command of a group of slackers and rejects nobody else would dare command. Never one to take orders very well, Galvatron Prime knew that like a few others in this group that Dust N' Bones was the loose cannon type you just pointed in the direction of the Autobots and cut loose, for if he died… no big loss.

Then came Baellax, the ruthless, massively bulky Decepticon – though he wasn't nearly as massive as Smite. A cunning strategist who could follow orders as well as gives them, and ruthless enough to earn the respect of the group's more impulsive members, Baellax was Galvatron Prime's go-to guy on the battles of Seibertron whenever this group needed to be assembled. His gorilla alternate mode was powerful, an excellent combination of brute force and brains. Too bad he was a slowpoke though.

Roadspite stood way the heck clear of everyone else – for good reason too. Completely incapable of teamwork in any meaningful way, always overheating due to her extreme hatred of all things mechanical Roadspite was a terror beyond imagination when her aggressive power was unleashed on a hapless foe. But her power was also a hindrance… limiting her usefulness on a battlefield as anything more than cannon fodder or a loose cannon.

Xarkon… Xarkon was a head case. His memory circuits having been scrambled in an accident, Xarkon often found himself fighting enemies he remembered from the past but that often aren't actually there. He's aggressive, psychotic, but he could follow orders and his sense of strategy was keen. With the right handling, he could be a formidable force indeed.

Smite, with a name serving his purpose well as a tool of divine judgment on Autobot infidels, Smite was a terror to friend and foe alike. Galvatron Prime had found him in an abandoned facility, talking to himself and ripping the remains of several technicians apart, claiming that their voices were too loud. Galvatron Prime had given the lunatic a weapon, christened him a Decepticon, and sent him off against a lone Autobot outpost. A mega cycle and a dozen destroyed Autobot installations later; Galvatron Prime understood both the depth of Smite's insanity and his potential as a literal weapon of mass destruction. With higher endurance and firepower than any other Decepticon he'd ever known, Smite was a walking arsenal of destruction.

Cyber Meth was unlike the majority of this group – he still possessed his sanity. A determined, effective medic (when the others would cooperate and sit still long enough for repairs) Cyber Meth got none of the glory, but was nonetheless and effective soldier as they all were.

Deadwood… ahh, now here was Gore's ideal Decepticon – violent, ruthless, and completely unconcerned for the lives of friend or foe alike in his quest to level the surrounding terrain. To Deadwood, all Transformers were mere obstacles to be cleared away. His way of ending a fight was to obliterate everything fighting in it in one fell swoop of massive devastation. His ruthlessness was unsurpassed.

Fatality… the technical wizard and weapons developer of the team. Though he had an extreme weakness for femmes and went flying off the handle whenever he saw one, Fatality's skill with weapons development was a vital skill. His combat ability wasn't all that good, but he more than made up for it with his inventive methods to kill Autobots.

Wreck 'n Rule was the one Decepticon out of this lot Galvatron Prim held hopes for. Though most of his life had been spent taking orders instead of giving them, Wreck 'n Rule may not be an effective commander yet, but his ability to lead by example gives hope that one day this powerful Decepticon will rise to a great rank and lead the way to the final attack on Iacon. Though he showed weakness at times, he nevertheless could be strengthened over time.

Dark Ops… a mystery indeed. Dark Ops has had a long history of betrayal and mistrust of his fellow Decepticons, and consequently is withdrawn, stubborn, and prefers doing things his own way. Very hard to control, but his devious mind is a potent weapon that when it can be brought to bear on the right target nearly guaranteed Galvatron Prime's victory in any given battlefield. But, many warlords of the past have used ark Ops, and he is leery of any commander who attempts to use him again.

Bloodlust and Brutallica… both of them were very unique in their own right. Both were powerful warriors, and both were able to follow orders, making them reliable on the battlefield. Bloodlust had the odd capacity to drain the energon from hapless Autobot victims, and Brutallica had fierce determination as a front-line warrior with a bone to prove about her femme status.

Each of these Decepticons had strengths and weaknesses, but Galvatron Prime paid no attention to what made them weak. Only that which made them strong concerned him. "Now my Decepticons. The Autobots have tried to returned to this cursed city… let us make this their one and only pilgrimage to this city."

**Central Archive of Agorahex, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

Knightbird stared at Centbot as he turned to face her after she'd called him a traitor. Which to her eyes he was. Anyone who defended a murderer of their own people could be nothing short of a traitor. As Centbot looked down on her from the top of the staircase, his optics narrowed at her and his fists clenched a bit. "You have no right to say that to me, Decepticon."

Knightbird's sword was in her hands and poised before her, ready to strike instantly. "And you're defending the Transformer responsible for thousands of deaths." She jutted out the tip of her blade so that it pointed at Centbot's torso. "And you can both get out of my way and let justice be done upon him, or you can die alongside of him."

Centbot sidestepped, placing himself between Knightbird and the entrance to the facility. "Maximus Prime is not what you think he is." Both of his plasma shell machineguns were palmed by Centbot, and he leveled them at Knightbird's torso.

Knightbird, however, was already moving forward, and was starting to slowly climb up the staircase. "Don't try and mince words here, Autobot. There was a time when I believed there was some decency among your kind, but that time has passed. Now get out of my way! I won't ask again."

Centbot didn't move, instead his machineguns adjusted their sights and Centbot pulled the triggers. Knightbird immediately kicked off the stairway and switched into her beast mode. Corkscrewing in the air in order to evade Centbot's initial shots, Knightbird closed quickly, and used her talons to grab onto Centbot's shoulders and lift him off of the ground. Lifting him to a height several dozen meters off the ground, Knightbird then threw Centbot into the side of the Archives building, the impact jarring both of his weapons out of Centbot's grasp as he rapidly descended the fifty-odd meter distance to the ground.

The impact dented Centbot's heavy armor, and bounced him back into the air a couple times before he came to a final stop. Knightbird screeched and went back into her robot mode, sword held over her head as she came down. Centbot rolled over and saw her blow aimed to cleave him in two and immediately kicked off the ground, rolling back onto his feet. Finally she came down, her sword coming down on Centbot's head like a mighty hammer blow. But Centbot had crossed his arms and caught her sword with them, her blade digging into his armor but doing no permanent damage.

Since Centbot was physically stronger than his opponent, he simply pushed up, shoving Knightbird away from him. His fists clenched, Centbot charged at Knightbird, going on the attack. Knightbird fell back, deflecting each of Centbot's blows with her sword, then crouching down low in a spin in order to bring her sword down and up from the left in an attempt to strike from below Centbot's guard. The Autobot, however, twisted his body to the left as well, Knightbird's attack causing only a minor scratch to Centbot's right hip armor, before bringing his right fist around in a powerful blow that lifted Knightbird into the air and dumped her back on the ground a meter or so back.

The femme flipped back on her feet and charged again, this time attacking herself. Her blows came fast and furious, and Centbot was hard pressed to fend them all off. Knightbird did not give up her attack though, and sure enough she finally managed to break through Centbot's guard. She aimed her sword to punch right through to Centbot's spark chamber once she broke his guard, but Centbot's right hand lashed forward and suddenly wrapped around her neck.

Caught and lifted in midair, Knightbird's sword couldn't reach Centbot's torso now. He let her go, and then aimed a single mid kick to Knightbird's torso, sending the femme flying hard into a wall. Thankfully, she managed to hang onto her sword though, and as Centbot ran at her after she stood up, she got an idea. As he got closer, Centbot pulled back his fist for his usual sort of heavy-handed hitting, and just as he got close enough to throw the punch Knightbird stabbed her sword into the wall and using it as leverage pushed herself up the wall.

This got Knightbird positioned above Centbot's punch (which punched a hole into the wall). The femme wrapped her legs around Centbot's head, and then pushed him back enough so she could knock him down the stairs. Centbot stumbled back, and sure enough, he lost his footing and tumbled down the stairs. It wasn't a long trip down to the base of the stairs, but when Centbot finally hit the landing at the base of the stairs, he seemed winded, even dazed. _Enough of this farce. Let's end this._ Centbot thought to himself as he reached one of his hands behind him, channeling a plasma current through that palm but keeping it out of view of Knightbird.

Knightbird saw Centbot kneeling on the ground. Suspecting a trap but knowing this was her opportunity, she took the chance and gambled. _Can't make a run for the entrance with him right there. All he'd have to do is grab a gun and shoot me in the back. I have to get rid of him here. _Making her choice,Knightbird jumped down the stairway, then bolted forward, sword positioned behind her to come down overhead again to add power to her strike. What happened next was something neither one of them was really expecting. Knightbird had been expecting Centbot to block with his forearms again, and Centbot was expecting a different sort of attack from Knightbird altogether.

What ended up happening is that as Knightbird's sword dropped, Centbot's energized hands came up, and he brought both of his palms together to catch Knightbird's blade mere centimeters from the top of his head. But the plasma in Centbot's energized palm began to eat away at Knightbird's sword; Centbot's superheated fingers carving grooves into the metal that deepened with each passing astrosecond. The femme tried desperately to pull her sword away to save it, but her attempts to free her weapon put too much stress on the weakened metal, and her sword broke clean in two.

The force the two of them had put into their little game of tug-of-war caused both of them to stumble – Knightbird more so than Centbot. The Decepticon femme looked at the stump of a weapon and looked at Centbot disbelievingly. Centbot stood up, smiling. "Plasma vaporizes most anything, femcon. Armor, weapons, walls… it'll pierce it all when enough force is applied. Now shall we end this, or do you want me to get really angry?"

Knightbird just looked between Centbot, then at the broken and melted stump of a sword in her hands, then back at her opponent. "Do you really believe in his innocence this strongly?" She asked, seeking an honest answer – which she got, even if it was cryptic.

"I don't have any other choice but to believe." Centbot said in response, to which Knightbird just scoffed and let go of her ruined weapon, the broken sword clattering to the ground.

"You win then, Autobot." Knightbird said, disgusted with herself at her seeming defeat, though it was more of a tie in reality.

Centbot dismissed her words with a wave. "It was a tie. Why don't you hold off this obsessive need of yours for revenge until we find out who really fired The Array? That way, we all get what we want."

Knightbird chuckled mirthlessly. "Do you really think I'm going to trust you?"

Centbot could have smiled. "Do either one of us have a choice?"

Knightbird thought on that one for a moment. "No, I suppose not…"

**Inside the Central Archives of Agorahex, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex**

Maximus Prime finished inputting the security codes Centbot had specified a few breems ago, and to his immense relief he'd so far encountered no security traps or anything of the kind. Eventually, he found his way to a chamber no one was ever supposed to find again. The room Maximus Prime had found himself in was massive, and devoid of any sort of lighting or decoration whatsoever. Only the light from the corridor outside allowed Maximus Prime to see the vague outline of some sort of ring in the room's center.

Figuring that was where he needed to be, Maximus Prime walked into the room, stepping into the circle the ring closed off. When he did and the room's single door closed behind him, Maximus Prime found himself in complete darkness. Then the ring came to life, producing several small and thin rings which proceeded to scan Maximus Prime. He flinched at first, fearing a security trap, but then he just stopped still until the scan stopped. When it did, there was a blinding flare of light from the spot Maximus Prime was currently standing in, and then the entire ring array seemed to explode.

After the explosion when no traces of Maximus Prime could be found, the Central Archive's security computer made the following statement: "Identification invalid. Access denied."


	7. Chapter Six, Part I Optimal POV

Author's Notes: I'd like to take the opportunity to first off, apologize for the extreme length of time it has taken me to turn out this chapter. Believe me, I've been annoyed with the wait even more than you guys might have been. That said it is also worth noting that the following updates after this will occur much more slowly than they have in the past, even though I'll do my best to get them out ASAP. Bear with me folks; the good times really are about to roll, as this marks the beginning of the end for _Iconic Ruin_.

Here, in Part I of chapter six, you may have noticed the words "Optimal POV" in the chapter title. This represents a change in the narrative's format for this chapter, as each part of this chapter is a retelling of the events that occurred in one period of time from multiple characters' point of views. Obviously, therefore, this first part will focus on Optimal Retaliation's actions and the actions of others that involved him. It is because of this that I give fair warning to all of my readers:

The first few parts of this chapter are probably going to seem really random and jumpy, and because the same events are being told from several people's point of views, it might get a bit boring at times to read the same stuff multiple times in different chapters. But believe me, there is methodology to my madness. Therefore, there is also a reason why I'll be doing so much backtracking. Do not skip the repetitive passages. Trust me, you'll miss a lot of key information if you do.

Also, for those of you who have waited forever for your characters to get some serious screen time in my fanfiction – some of you will now have your faith rewarded. And for those of you, who will continue to wait, believe me, your wait will not be too much longer. _Every_ character that was submitted will appear in one of the parts of Chapter Six, I just can't tell you which ones yet.

There's a lot of stuff going on in this chapter and I've prattled away on my keyboard long enough. Therefore I'll wrap this up by expressing my gratitude to those who have read this fic all the way through, and I hope you join me in appreciating the fact that from here on out – this fanfiction is only gonna get better. Enjoy yourselves, and happy reading.

**Radiata Plains, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex **

Optimal Retaliation quietly rode along what was commonly known as the Radiata Plains. Though really, the Plains were not plains at all. A vast field of ash and battlefield debris, the Radiata Plains marked the extent of the radiation fields that enveloped Agorahex. In his past occupation as an archeologist Optimal Retaliation had heard speculation that the Plains had once been the suburban districts of Agorahex, and had been leveled by the same cataclysmic battle that had destroyed the city itself. At the time, Optimal Retaliation had not believed the stories. Few did, given the fact that the city proper itself was not reduced to piles of radiation soaked debris like its outlying districts.

But in the hours since departing the company of his Autobot comrades just before they were to enter the Plains the young Autobot had begun to wonder about such stories. Something about recent events troubled him, greatly. It was so familiar to him, and he couldn't help but feel angry with that. It angered him so much that they were making the same mistakes all over again, and he didn't just mean Centbot and Maximus Prime. Heck, even Evolution Prime's overreactions weren't the focus of his rage this time. It was focused on all of his fellow Transformers.

Honestly, for eight human centuries Autobots and Decepticons had waged their war and yet neither side could achieve victory. The war was a needless waste of lives but neither side could let go of their anger and resentment of the other side long enough to hammer out a peace treaty. He felt like they should have learned from their mistakes a long time ago – but how could anyone learn from a past that was hidden? Two Vorns had passed since the Awakening, over one thousand and six hundred human years. But carbon dating and other means of determining the age of Seibertron's cities confirmed that the Transformers had existed as a race long before that.

Once, the search for answers to the many questions that the people had concerning their common ancestry had united both groups of people. But, it didn't take long for the ideological differences to arise. Soon after that, the division between Autobots and Decepticons started and both people began to compete for the resources of their fair planet. It was mostly because of these resources that the Great War began; a war that in these days seemed like it had clearly not gone well for the Autobots. Additionally, with the destruction of Iacon at the hands of their own defensive superweapon it seemed certain the Autobot's days were numbered.

Even now, Optimal Retaliation knew, that even though right now was the moment when a peaceful accord was most needed it would never occur. Although they were peace loving by nature the Autobots had thought of Decepticons as nothing but the enemy for far too long. That kind of resentment and prejudice could not be cast aside overnight. They'd rather die than live as a defeated people, or at least the majority of them would. As for the Decepticons… they were Decepticons. Now that victory was near, and so many of their people slain by the activation of the Array, total victory was the only outcome the Decepticons would accept. If the Autobots didn't surrender (which naturally they would never do) then they'd all be killed (which the Decepticons would have preferred as an outcome anyway).

That history should have been enough of a lesson, but as time ground on the search for answers to the past came to an end after the war started. Both sides blamed the other for erasing knowledge of their common past. Optimal Retaliation doubted either side was correct. It didn't seem to fit with the general way either faction operated. But still, the fact that millions of sentient beings could forget so much of their own past should have been enough to make them all see that there was a bigger picture out there and that killing one another for such petty reasons was wrong.

But despite all that, not only was the war still ongoing, but there was potential for genocide on the horizon and at a time when the Autobots needed a united front more than ever here they were hunting down two of their own. It was an offensive thought to Optimal Retaliation, and it was one he couldn't get away from. Recent events had badly shaken his faith not only in his friends but also his faith in his own ideals. No matter how hard he had fought to save lives, still more died on other battles. It was a long, eternal circle of life, destruction, and death.

And the scene around him was a prime example of that. Agorahex had been the first city to suffer a cataclysmic event, but it was far from the last. Strategic weapons had been employed without hesitation in the opening days of the Great War, usually resulting in nothing but the destruction of kilometers of real estate and thousands of lives. How many had died here when Agorahex was destroyed? Optimal Retaliation didn't know, but he had the distinct impression that more Transformers had died on that day than had ever died during the Great War.

Fighting over resources that had become limited only because of the war both sides had fought over them. Fighting over a past that for all they knew they erased themselves. Ironic? Certainly. Pathetically stupid? Without a doubt. It was so stupid that for a while Optimal Retaliation could have been fooled into thinking it was a holodrama. But the Radiata Plains, which surrounded the Autobot, were all too real. With so much loose debris in the area the only safe paths to travel were small valleys cut into the Plains by some random event of nature. As a consequence it felt very much like Optimal Retaliation was rolling through a great black mountain valley.

Even more intimidating, though, was the random energon surges zapping through Optimal Retaliation's body. The high concentrations of energon radiation meant that even with his internal energy dampers on full his system was still flooded with more raw energy than it could safely handle. This physical strain to be certain was definitely not helping the Autobot's mood. After all, what could sour an already dour mood better than random electric shocks? His radiation warning alarms also constantly reminded him that he only had so many cycles he could remain in the city before his laser core overloaded from a massive energon radiation surge after his dampers failed.

In short, there were a lot of things upsetting Optimal Retaliation at this very moment. Worse still, half of them were things he couldn't do anything about. But the issue of Centbot's suspected desertion was not one of those things. He could get some answers out of his mentor and old friend, and he would. But before he could answer his many questions, he needed to find the rogue Autobot first.

Optimal Retaliation put the pedal to the metal and his engine roared as he picked up speed and headed further towards Agorahex. It was time to settle things one-way or the other.

------

To Evolution Prime, wasting time was one thing. Wasting time because his predecessor and a foolishly stubborn Autobot decided to betray him and every other Autobot was quite another. He was wasting time here hunting those two down plus that Decepticon which aided in their escape instead of being back in Iacon, making preparations for winning this war once and for all. True, he could be back in Iacon helping to carry out his plan to put the Decepticons in their place while regulating this duty to his lieutenants… but he had only just been appointed as the new leader.

Evolution Prime was not yet certain of his troop's loyalties, and he knew many Autobots whispered doubts about Maximus Prime's guilt. To maintain his unstable political office, he needed to make sure his authority was absolute. The outright defiance of Centbot and Maximus Prime had made him appear weak, and he did not like to be thought of as weak. Nobody respected a weak leader. He had made his decision on Maximus Prime's fate, and he had to carry it through no matter what. This was too important for him to hand down to an unproven officer no matter how skilled.

Optimal Retaliation, ironically, had proven to be the prime example of Evolution Prime's fear about handing this operation down to a lower tier of the food chain. That Autobot had betrayed him, and given that several members of the team he had assembled had known Optimal for a long time raised the possibility that still more traitors existed within his ranks. Paranoia was an uncomfortable feeling, and Evolution Prime struggled to keep his paranoia in check… but honestly – how could anybody in his position _not_ be paranoid?

The Autobot Councilor had already sent most of his group ahead to the Central Archives, leaving only Sharpwing and Spidertron to follow him. And soon enough, they'd be leaving him behind too. "Do you two understand your assignment? I want it to be clear that if you find him you are ordered to bring him back to me by whatever means are necessary."

"Understood, Prime." Was the immediate reply from both Autobots.

Evolution Prime smiled a bit. It was risky to trust his people when they were split up like this, but he had little choice in the matter. "Very well then, get going. We'll meet back at the Central Archives."

With that, Sharpwing rose into the air -Spidertron riding on the Autobot flyer's back- and banked away. They had been assigned the task of hunting down and apprehending Optimal Retaliation. Everyone else was assigned to continue with the main objective. Evolution Prime would be joining the main group shortly, but first he contacted the Autobase back in Iacon. He was gratified when ThunderCrush, the Autobot who Evolution Prime had installed as regional commander of the city in his absence, appeared on one of Evolution Prime's internal video screen monitors and began filling him in on current events underway within the city.

-----

Starscream SB hovered well above visual range of the city below him, partly because there was little in it that he wanted to see but also because he didn't want his prey to find him. Or, more accurately, Galvatron Prime didn't want those ever-observant Autobots to notice he was spying on them. Starscream would have preferred a straight fight to all this snooping around, observing the enemy. He was a warrior, not a scout. Why bring a seeker along for scouting? Let Dark Ops or any of the other egghead 'Cons in the group do the snooping – they were good at it.

But scouting wasn't his job; annihilating Autoboobs was more his speed. His engines needed to be screaming and inspiring fear in his enemies as he descended on them with his null-ray lasers blazing. They didn't deserve the indignity of hovering around at a speed that for a seeker registered as barely moving. Not to mention all of this remote spying and observing was proving to be a severe strain on his optic circuits. And furthermore, why in the universe did Galvatron Prime need Starscream SB to update him every time one of the Autobots twitched a finger?

Galvatron Prime insisted that every detail was crucial to planning their little ambush, but what possible strategic value could there be in the fact that one Autobot was going two k/ph slower than the one in front of him? It wasn't until the Autobot formation began to split up that Starscream SB started to get excited. Finally, _something_ that had a relevance he could understand was happening. Then, however, he noticed that a small group turning to the side of the main group contained Starscream SB's old nemesis Sharpwing. That realizing had sent a wave of heat rising up through Starscream's fuel lines. He so desperately wanted to invert himself and dive down on Sharpwing's tail while reducing the cocky fool into slag.

But, he didn't dare go against Galvatron Prime's orders. Doing so would be the same as committing suicide. Thusly so, he wisely checked in first. Besides, if Galvatron Prime denied his request, he could always disobey the order after pretending that there was comm. interference. They'd been in this radiation bath for a long time, and it was beginning to affect their systems somewhat. The one disadvantage to the fact that they managed to beat their Autobot quarry to Agorahex. "Starscream SB to Galvatron Prime, the Autobots have split up into two different groups. The larger one is heading towards our trap; the second one is apparently going after a secondary objective. Request permission to eliminate the stragglers personally, sir."

Galvatron Prime mulled over the request for a second before asking a question which he had already figured out the answer to. "Is Sharpwing in the group, Starscream?"

Were he in his robot mode instead of his jet fighter alternate form, Starscream SB would have frowned. He already knew where this conversation was going. "Yes, Galvatron."

"Then do not engage them under any circumstances. This mission is too important to waste on your petty rivalry." Galvatron Prime replied dismissively. Starscream SB bristled a bit at Galvatron's words, but he managed to bite back a hasty reply. Instead, he simply cut the link, fumed, and backed to follow Sharpwing. He might not be able to shoot Sharpwing, but if he tagged the little fool until the time was right, he just might eventually get the chance to nail his old rival.

**1st Southern District, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex **

Optimal Retaliation rolled slowly to a stop upon reaching the city. Up until now, he had followed a trail left behind by his old friend and former leader as they also had rolled into the city. But the trail ended now that he had entered the city proper, suggesting that they either took steps to avoid leaving a trail or had gone into robot mode from this point. Whatever the case may have been it still meant that Optimal had reached the end of this proverbial road.

Evolution Prime knew or at least honestly believed that Centbot and Maximus Prime were heading towards the Central Archives of Agorahex in order to access the information stored there. On that, Optimal Retaliation agreed with Evolution Prime. But where they disagreed was on the matter of whether or not Centbot and Maximus Prime would _stay_ in that location. Evolution Prime thought they would, Optimal Retaliation knew they wouldn't. Centbot hated staying anywhere for any great length of time, and Maximus Prime knew they'd be tracked there anyway.

Thus, Optimal Retaliation's dilemma was figuring out where Centbot would have gone next. If Optimal believed that Centbot was a traitor, then Polyhex would be the logical destination. But since Optimal Retaliation didn't believe Centbot was a traitor even for a second he dismissed that thought out of hand. They couldn't get back to Iacon, so they would have had to find somewhere else to park inside Agorahex itself. And given the level of destruction visited upon this city, there were very few places inside the city that would offer a sufficient level of cover from any sort of determined search party.

Of course, nobody had ever bothered to fully map out the ruins. Their layout changed too rapidly due to what many suspected to be subsurface facilities crumbling and dropping the layers of infrastructure above down into the resulting chasm. Thus, Optimal Retaliation had no idea where to begin his search. But, sitting around gawking at the scenery wasn't going to find anybody. Optimal Retaliation transformed, his trailer section vanishing as it always did as he assumed his robot form from his oil tanker truck alternate form.

He looked around, Optimal's gaze sweeping across the bombed-out cityscape around him. It was barren, dark, lonely… pretty much the perfect place for someone who didn't want to be found. The sheer size of the city would slow his search, but he had to at least try to find them. Picking a random direction, Optimal Retaliation wandered off in his chosen direction. His only company on his journey that he knew off was the metallic footfalls of his metal feet walking along the hard pathway.

-----

Perhaps the greatest irony of it all was the simple fact that while one party or another was spying on all the others; those parties in turn were being spied on by somebody else. This unknown third party, however, had kept itself hidden as it observed closely the recent development in this ancient city. Agorahex had not drawn such a crowd of influential Transformers since the last Great War, at least to that third party's recollection. But, whereas the other two parties were involved in this mess indirectly because of the actions of the rogue Autobots, this third party was involved for a somewhat more sinister reason.

It noted the respective positions of all the players in this game, evaluating the odds of Virsago successfully completing his part of their deal. Quickly coming to the conclusion that they could not complete their original plans under these conditions – the third party quickly ceased its observations and disappeared entirely. It had things it needed to discuss with Virsago, after all.

**Virsago's Lair – Virus Development Section, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex **

Virsago slowly paced outside the corridors of the Virus Development Lab inside of his lair complex. His recent nightmare still affecting him and he was still trying to bring his rattled nerves back into focus. It was hard enough living with the knowledge of the past, but these half-memories of his were becoming excruciatingly tiresome. When he had made the original decision to come here to check out the progress of the Iacon Virus program it was a thought made in a desperate need to get his mind focused on something else.

But in his haste to escape the past he ended up running right back into it again. He had forgotten that this lab was the same one that used to belong to his old friend, and thus having remembered that it all came right back to him. It bothered Virsago greatly how his half-awakened memory refused to allow him proper rest anymore, it was beginning to hinder his ability to function. During the long period of time after the Awakening, after being brought back to life and learning what had happened before the reset his anger had sustained him. It lent him the determination he needed to endure the long period of waiting and scheming from behind the shadows necessary to reach the position he was in now.

But now that which had once sustained him was now becoming a problem. He was feeling increasingly restless; he wanted to get to the end of it all – right here and right now. No more waiting and plotting, just plain and simple execution of his wrath. Centbot, Maximus Prime, Decatron, Gore… all of them were close now. With but one extension of his amassed power he knew he could crush them all with one fell stroke. But doing so would be pointless, it would create boundless chaos and that was not Virsago's goal.

Virsago was trying to bring the people's past back to them first, and then he'd satisfy his need for revenge on those who had wronged him. So was the argument he used on himself so very often, but after nearly two entire Vorns the excuse was wearing amazingly thin. Virsago narrowed his optics as he gazed at the Lab's doorway – quietly reaffirming his own willpower to proceed even in the face of his own impatience. There were more important matters to contend with now – but even so Virsago began to wonder how long he could contain himself.

Virsago was about to enter the Lab, but that was when he felt a large shift in the energy field behind him in the corridor. He didn't bother turning around to see who it was as there was only one Transformer on the planet at present that could generate an energy field strong enough for him to detect. "What do you want?" Virsago asked irritably, his voice conveying the sense that he was not at all pleased to see his ally directly behind him. To be honest, Virsago had sent him off on that reconnaissance mission simply to get the tiny pest out of his hair.

Nevertheless, his ally did have use upon occasion, so when his ally stated that their deal needed to be renegotiated he turned on the Transformer and heard him out. A short time later, his ally was gone, vanished into thin air right in front of Virsago's optics. But Virsago couldn't help but feel like he had made a mistake by allowing his ally to do what he was now doing. Sadly, this was one of those rare moments when Virsago didn't have a choice. All he could do was plan for the worst and hope that he wouldn't come to regret the new deal.

**1st Southern District, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex **

Optimal Retaliation was still walking along on his chosen path, not really knowing where he was going. His progress was slow and deliberate, as he explored every building and hole in the ground he could find. Even after hours of searching, he figured it unlikely he'd explored more than a few city blocks' worth of territory. It was actually kind of annoying, but he had no choice. Centbot could be anywhere in this city, and therefore Optimal had no choice but to search the entire damned thing if necessary. The progress was slow, but he figured the others wouldn't have much more luck.

Then as he was about to transform back into his alternate vehicle form, he felt a strange sensation running up through his circuits. Like an energon surge (which he was already all too familiar with) but less painful and distracting. He was keen to ignore it, but then he heard a voice behind him. It was a higher pitched voice, one could even say childlike were it not for the complete lack of innocence in the tone. "I do hope you have a better search method in mind, Autobot. You're never going to find what you seek this way. And you can put that away, if I posed any danger to you you'd have been dead before I chose to reveal myself."

Optimal Retaliation narrowed his optics at the tiny ball-like creature that addressed him, just for a moment spitting the thing dead center on the sights of his double-barreled plasma shell shotgun. "Identify yourself first, then I'll decide for myself if you're worth shooting or not." Was the Autobot's reply.

The tiny little thing sighed, its ball-like body turning both to the left and the right as if to shake its head at him. "Autobots of the modern age are so suspicious of strangers. But very well, the name is Minicron, and I can point you in the right direction to find your friend."

Optimal Retaliation's optics widened and Minicron would have smirked if he had the proper appendage to do so in this form. "How did you know about that?"

Minicron scoffed. "This is my city. The energon radiation that is so harmful to you is what sustains me. I live here, and as such I know everything that goes on within the borders of my city. I saw you and your friends enter this city, as well as the others. Given that they arrived first, it doesn't take much to connect the dots. You followed them, and now you're searching for them."

Optimal Retaliation thought that over, though his claim of being sustained by the radiation field, which was lethal to any ordinary Transformer over sustained periods, seemed extremely strange to Optimal Retaliation. "And so what faction do you ally with?"

Again, Minicron scoffed, only this time he followed it up with genuine laughter. Optimal Retaliation noted, however, that a little ball barely two meters in diameter with two arm-like appendages sticking out of it looked extremely odd when it laughed. "Boy, my home is a radiation soaked ruin. Do you really think I bother with the extremely petty politics of your war? I don't care if you wipe each other off the face of this planet – I just want you all to leave my city well enough alone. As a matter of fact, once I'm done here I'm off to Iacon. But first I want to help you find your friend, so you can get the Pit out of Agorahex."

Optimal thought over Minicron's words and while he wasn't entirely satisfied with the answer he also decided that he needed help to find Centbot before anybody else did. And if Minicron's claims were true he'd be the only Transformer on the planet with intimate knowledge of Agorahex. That knowledge would greatly speed up the search. He lowered his shotgun and racked it before turning back to Minicron. "Can you take me right to where they are now?"

Minicron's entire body shook again in his version of a headshake. "Regretfully I cannot. One of them entered the Central Archives and has not been heard from since. The other one has moved on, where I cannot say but judging from their past actions I believe that I can say I know where they are going with some certainty. But, I believe it is important for you to arrive there before they do, so prepare for a bit of a shock." One of Minicron's tri-clawed manipulator arms extended and locked around one of Optimal Retaliation's forearms.

Subsequently, both vanished into thin air.

-----

"Well, now… isn't that a neat trick?" Starscream SB muttered to himself as two of the many Transformers he was observing simply vanished into thin air. And Sharpwing was heading right for that spot where they disappeared. Had been for quite some time now. In his own moment of combined paranoid delusions and fallout from watching far too many science fiction holograms Starscream SB figured that the Autobots had developed some sort of teleportation technology. Angered by the thought that his old rival had found a way to upstage him, Starscream SB broke with Galvatron Prime's orders and immediately reduced altitude as he closed on Sharpwing's tail.

He'd slag Sharpwing, those other two Autobots, and take their teleportation technology himself. Then all the glory of this victory would be his… it was such a sweet thought to the rather depraved mind of Starscream SB as he throttled up to full and charged his weapons, glad to finally be acting like a warrior again. This time, Sharpwing would not escape him. This time, the victory would be his and his alone. No escape would be permitted, nor would any mercy be shown. After all, Sharpwing would rather die than surrender anyway.

-----

Sharpwing and Spidertron quickly looked out across the empty patch of debris that marked the spot where Optimal Retaliation and Minicron had just vanished. Both were shocked at the event, as neither one of them could possibly have suspected Optimal Retaliation would have found a way to use such technology. It took them a little while to get over their surprise, and it was Spidertron that got his voice back first. "I _told_ you we should have shot first and asked questions later!"

Sharpwing was tempted at this point to simply roll to his portside and dump this irritating Autobot off of his wings, but alas, he resisted the urge. After all, at least this time the 'Bot had a point. Sharpwing was hoping to get the jump on Optimal Retaliation and surround him before trying to talk him into going back. He could have sent a message, but doing that would likely have resulting in Optimal Retaliation beware of the fact that he was being tracked and ducking deeper into the city.

Likewise, neither he nor Spidertron had the sort of weaponry available to disable Optimal in one shot without risking the said Autobot's life in the process. But nevertheless, even that option would have been better than letting Optimal Retaliation get away like this. In all the years Sharpwing had flown the skies of Seibertron he had grown used to the fact that observation from the air gave him a nice advantage when it came to keeping track of his enemies. To him, this teleportation stuff was cheating.

Spidertron, for his part, was actually kind of happy about this. For a long time he had hoped to provide the Decepticons with something that would lead to a decisive end to the war. If he could get his hands on that little ball and thus the teleportation device… surely Galvatron Prime or another member of the Tripedicus Council would reward him greatly for his efforts. He looked down on Sharpwing's cockpit bubble, wondering what Sharpwing would do if he knew that he was carrying a traitor on his back. Probably fling him off into a blast furnace, Spidertron figured glumly.

Then, however, a thought occurred to Spidertron. "Sharpwing, turn on your radiation sensors."

"What? Look, S-" Sharpwing started, but Spidertron cut him off.

"Just humor me, fly-bot. Turn 'em on and look for any spikes in the radiation field."

Sharpwing grumbled something that Spidertron assumed to be an insult against him, but in the end complied. A few moments later, he whistled. "Well I'll be… there's a spike in the radiation field near the eastern district of the city. It's dissipating fast though."

"Patch the data to me." Spidertron requested, and soon enough the displayed information scrolled across his vision. Spidertron smirked; glad he'd learned something from the geeks and eggheads after all. He figured a teleportation device had to use a huge amount of energy, and he was right. Now, once again, they were on the hunt. "See? There _is_ a reason I was assigned to this mission after all."

The world turned to starboard as Sharpwing banked and brought them around on their new heading. "Don't get cocky kid, anybody can get lucky once or twice. Do well in a fi – damn you!" Sharpwing suddenly shouted, and Spidertron was about to take offense to the comment when suddenly Spidertron hung on for dear life as Sharpwing pulled a tight portside turn. It was at that moment that the null-ray shot Sharpwing had barely evaded burned past, followed by the appearance of the Decepticon seeker on Spidertron's own sensor grids.

"Hang on!" Sharpwing shouted unnecessarily and he rolled over so that his cockpit was pointing towards the ground. Then he pointed his nose at the deck and dove. Starscream SB mimicked the maneuver and followed, firing as he came. Spidertron's world spun so violently as Sharpwing performed an evasive corkscrew during his descent that he swore that if he lived through this he was never going to fly again. Numerous null ray blasts flashed past, some getting damn close to connecting but none of them actually did so. Eventually though, Sharpwing was forced to end the roll and even out before pulling out of his dive.

Sharpwing's descent had taken him down to street level, namely one of the thousands of streets and long straight-aways that wound through the city. Starscream SB pursued, still shooting. Spidertron looked back, panic nearly making him contact Starscream SB and tell him he was on the Decepticon side of things in order to preserve his own life. Thankfully, however, common sense prevailed and he held his tongue. Starscream SB _might_ kill him, but Sharpwing would certainly do so if he discovered that his companion was a traitor.

As such, Spidertron looked to Sharpwing to get them out of this. "What are we gonna do?"

Sharpwing took the time necessary to turn around a corner in a hard portside turn in order to escape another flood of null-ray shots being produced by Starscream SB. "What do you think we're gonna do? We're going to complete this mission, Spidertron. Now get ready to jump on my command."

Spidertron thought for sure that Sharpwing had fried every last one of his logic circuits. "Get ready to _what_? In _this_? Are you _insane_?"

Sharpwing didn't have a whole lot of patience for bickering while he was getting shot at. "Look, one of us has to complete our assignment and I can't maneuver very well with all this useless weight on my back! I'll slow down enough so that you can safely jump off, then you can continue the mission on foot."

"That's insane! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Sharpwing could've shrugged. "I'm a 'Bot, tis what we do. Now get ready to jump on my mark!"

Sharpwing was fast approaching a large building, easily about twenty stories tall. He quickly ascended towards the top of the building, the progress of his ascent being marked by the null-ray fire of Starscream SB, which lit up the building below Sharpwing's tail. Just before reaching the top though, there was an odd creaking sound from Sharpwing's own wings, and Spidertron looked over to see the leading edge of Sharpwing's portside wing was opening and a large emitter of some sort was folding out. A quick pivot of Spidertron's head to the opposite side confirmed that there was a similar emitter extending from the starboard side wing as well.

Then came Sharpwing's rapid deceleration, and Spidertron was nearly thrown off the top of the Autobot. Starscream SB's null ray fire abruptly ceased, and the Autobot traitor found that odd. Surely now was the opportune moment for the Decepticon to fire on his prey was it not? Either way, Spidertron had more pressing concerns as Sharpwing shouted the word "Now!" at him and so Spiertron pulled himself up and jumped off of Sharpwing just as the Autobot flyer clear the roof of the building.

Spidertron hit the roof hard and rolled with the impact to minimize any possible damage. Then there was the sound of screaming – but not the sort of screaming that was emitted by a jet engine. No, this was the enraged sort of scream and Spidertron looked around to find out what happened. It didn't take him long to find the answer, as there lying about twenty meters ahead of him was the severed bulk of Starscream SB's port wing.

Spidertron looked up and saw Starscream SB already transformed into robot mode and heading up higher into the air – Sharpwing following with the energon blades generated from his wingtips still glowing after he used them to cut off Starscream's wing. Spidertron whistled, finally understanding the name "Sharpwing." But even as he watched Sharpwing's multi-barreled laser gattling gun open up on Starscream SB, he noted that Starscream SB was back off a lining up a shot.

Spidertron tried to shout out a warning, but it was too late. Starscream SB's null-ray blast caught Sharpwing square in the port engine, which promptly overloaded and shut down. Sharpwing swore as he spun out uncontrollably and began an erratic spiral down towards the ground that rapidly rose up to greet him. To make matters worse, Starscream SB was in hot pursuit, firing away sporadically, playing with the wounded Autobot. Spidertron shook his head, brushing himself off and standing up. Well, he was safe now, and he had a mission to complete. Sharpwing's problems were his own now; Spidertron had done all he was obligated to do. He looked around for an access hatch that led from the roof down into the building itself.

It was time for him to do what Sharpwing had told him to do – find Optimal Retaliation. And while he was at it, he might as well take that nifty little teleportation device Optimal Retaliation had apparently found.

-----

Sharpwing was going down, and he was going down hard. Two subsequent null-ray blasts has disabled both of his engines and his rudders. He still had his wing blades but without engines they were useless. All of his other weapons were all forward facing, and Starscream SB was behind him. _He's always behind me, probably explains why he doesn't seem to like me very much these days._ Sharpwing thought to himself with a smirk. But the good humor didn't last long under the imposing reality of the fact that the ground was rising up to greet him quickly and he only had maybe a minute to do something.

"Heh, heh, goodbye Sharpwing. I'll look forward to salvaging your remains after you crash. Maybe I'll replace my wing with one of yours… then again, for somebody like you that might be too much of an honor so –"

"By Primus, _shut up_!" Sharpwing shouted back at Starscream SB, interrupting the Decepticon's bragging as he transformed into robot mode and turned himself around to face Starscream SB. Wanting nothing else but to shut his longtime rival and enemy up once and for all Sharpwing unloaded with his gattling. But at this range, the amount of damage the gattling could do was minimal and both of them knew it. Starscream SB crossed his arms in front of them and let them soak up all the damage the gattling could produce.

Starscream SB intended it as a show of superiority to accompany his final victory over his rival. But the pair of missiles Sharpwing launched immediately thereafter carried a different message entirely and the Decepticon's optics widened considerably when he noticed the launch. Immediately Starscream tried to move off to the side, and by doing so he managed to evade one of the missiles.

But the second one hit dead on, and the resulting explosion obscured Starscream SB from Sharpwing's view, and threw the shouting Decepticon back into a building across the street. "Heh, gotcha after all." Sharpwing muttered to himself with a smirk, then he just waited for the last astrosecond before he hit the roof of a building below him. When he hit, Sharpwing's sheer momentum shot him clear through the roof of the building and down several more stories before he finally came to a stop deep inside the building – a hole in the roof and several floors below along with a billowing smoke cloud the only evidence of Sharpwing's location.

**13th Eastern District, 2nd Vorn, Agorahex **

As soon as they arrived at their destination, Optimal Retaliation suffered the effects of a massive energon radiation surge that made him convulse and nearly put him into stasis lock. As a consequence of his convulsions Optimal Retaliation fell to the ground, and Minicron made no effort to help up the Autobot. "A _little_ shock eh?" Optimal Retaliation shot the question at Minicron accusingly, and the diminutive Transformer shrugged unapologetically.

"I told you before, the radiation does not have the same effects on me that it has on you. Besides, here we are." Minicron declared suddenly, pointing off into the distance.

Optimal Retaliation tracked his gaze across the ruined cityscape to where Minicron was pointing, painfully standing up at the same time. What Minicron was pointing to was a small ovular structure, two stories tall and constructed in the same rounded fashion that made up typical Autobot architecture. Whatever color the structure had in the past had long since eroded away, and the building had a lot of apparent structure damage as did much of the surrounding city. But otherwise, it was intact. "What is this place?"

Minicron replied quickly: "Centbot's old house."

That surprised Optimal Retaliation greatly, and he turned around in order to ask Minicron to repeat himself, but when he turned he noticed that Minicron was gone – teleported away. Optimal Retaliation turned to what Minicron had called Centbot's home and walked up to the door. He stood there for a while, wondering what he'd find inside. Hopefully some answers, but he had no way of knowing whether Minicron was telling the truth.

But he wouldn't find out one way or the other if he just stood out here. Optimal Retaliation reached for the door controls, activated them, and once the doorway retracted into the wall… he went inside.

-----

Minicron smiled when he observed Optimal Retaliation go inside Centbot's former home. "One small step for Virsago; but one giant victory for me. Pity I have to run to Iacon."

Minicron turned his back on Agorahex, and this time flew off into the air the old fashioned way toward Iacon. After all, he had a deal to honor…

To be continued in Chapter Six: Part II


End file.
